The AutoWolf
by xxWolfyxx
Summary: Bailey Vinez was born deformed and her parents paid for AutoMail, but where surprised when she was used as an experiment. This story goes exactly by the 2003 anime script and is EdwardxOC. T for language that you should know about already.
1. Info

Name: Bailey Vinez (Vines)

Age:11 and goes on through the story, so she ages.

Gender: Female (naw dipXD)

Family: Murdered in war (were in military) and Step-Uncle and Aunt have not been seen since she was 8

Past: When she was born, she was deaf and her spine was deformed. Her parents and all the doctors figured she would die. But then, this man came. He was a technician who specialized in AutoMail. Bailey's mother and father payed the man all that they had, and thus, he took her as a patient. When he did, however, he used her as an experiment. He used the ears and tail of a deceased wolf, added silver, wires, and other mechanical objects to make his new creation... The AutoWolf. Placing the ears to her head and the tail to her spine by silver plates, he attached wires to her brain and Spinal Chord. She could hear and she could talk. Bailey Vinez would live. But, when he was done with the operation, he fled town, expected to have been killed off by military officials for creation of illegal AutoMail. After a couple of years, her mother and father got called to duty. At the age of three, Bailey was sent to her Step-Uncle and Aunt's mansion, where she learned Alchemy and studied, becoming quite strong. She had carved a Transmutation Circle on one of the many silver plates that covered part of her tail, allowing her to use Alchemy whenever she pleased, as long as it used her AutoWolf tail. At the age of 5, her Step-Uncle had found that alcohol could ease his stress, and became a drunk. Bad part is, he was a gambler, also. One night, he was drunk, and was gambling nd decided he was going to win this game, so you know what he did? He betted all his money and the whole mansion. Yeah, guess what? He lost. They lost. Everything. From age five to age eight, Bailey lived on the streets with her Step-Aunt and Uncle. Once, when they were walking around in an alley, some thug that was drunk ripped off her black cloak (that she always wears) and saw her silver attachments. He freaked. As a crowd formed around them, Bailey's guardians fled, afraid, cowardly. At that moment, she was glad about her carved Transmutation Circle. Turning her tail into a huge drill, she dug herself out, and ran away from everything, everyone. She kept fleeing, but found that the more places she traveled, the more people she helped, using her Alchemy. When she was eleven, she took down a murderer that had gone on a rampage. At that moment, the military came. When they saw, they reported to Lieutenant Roy Mustang, who enrolled her in the State Alchemist Exams. But also, when she was informed she was enrolled, she was also told that her mother and father were killed on duty by the very murderer she had caught three years before. Of course, she was devastated, but what got to her more was one quetion; Who did she have left?


	2. Episode 1: Those Who Challenge the Sun

"Bailey Vinez?"The sky was painted gray, like a canvas, blurred together. Rain pelted down, almost as if the huge palette was dripping with wet paint. I turned to the man clad in blue, my midnight cloak waving like a vast sea in the semi-harsh glade.

"Yeah? What is it?"My voice was monotonous. What would you suspect? I had just killed a mass murderer, so he deserved it... right? The man ran up to me, handing me a piece of paper and doubling over, catching his breath. Before I could open the parchment, though, he bolted upright again. I now got a good look at his facial attributes. Slicked back, spiky black hair with a single strand sticking out in front of his rectangular glasses, which framed forest-green eyes. He had a bit of stubble, but a kind smile on his face.

"Hello, miss. My name is Hughes. Maes Hughes."He did a funky little pose, trying to show of his sleeve-covered biceps. I rolled my eyes and he chuckled."Anyways, my good friend Lieutenant Mustang has recommended you for the State Alchemist Exam. Would you like to participate, ?" I squinched my gray-blue eyes in thought.

"And become a mutt of the military? I think not."Turning, I began to walk away. But, before I could get out of reach, he took my shoulder, firmly, yet gently. His voice became more serious now, almost guilty.

"You may want to read that letter, first." I gave him a curious glance from under my shadowed hood, then down at the folded letter. Opening it, I read the script slowly.

Dear Ms. Bailey Vinez,

I am sorry to say that your mother and father have been killed in action by the killer 'Ricardo the Assassin' on the date 7/19/07. Their burial was in Central's Military Cemetery. They were truly brave people. Their final words were "Make sure our daughter becomes stronger and is protected. A State Alchemist, that's what she should be." We are sorry for your loss. We would've given you this information sooner, but your whereabouts were unknown.

Sincerely,

King Bradley

I couldn't believe it. They were just... gone? Three years ago, gone, and I didn't know? I cried. Just cried. I didn't bawl or sob, just cried. I could feel myself shaking, both outside and in. Just... gone. Before I could think, I had turned around and was clamping onto Hughes as if for dear life. They were gone, I would never see them again. All those years waiting to see their smiling faces were for nothing. Killed three years ago. Hughes didn't seem to mind my tears soaking his navy-blue shirt even more than it already was. In fact, he took his hand and patted my head. That is, before getting cut. With a quick "OW!", he shook his hand and looked down and the ripped cloth that used to be my hood. Right there, screwed onto my skull with silver plates, were wolf ears, sharp as knives, and small drops of blood splattered on them. His eyes widened for a moment, before returning to normal. Maes ushered me into one of the black taxi-like cars, out of the rain, and buckled me up. He sat in front of my curled-up form, seeming somewhat sad.

"Kid..."He put his hand under is chin slowly."What happened to you?"And so, I told him. Everything. How I could only remember pain... hurt both mentally and physically. The next thing, I can't recall. Just fuzzy and black. I had gone to sleep.

Blurred. That was the world right now. A big blob of blur, right in my face. I was moving. Not walking, just... moving. Something was carrying me... someone was carrying me. My first reaction was kick, scream, do something, but I couldn't. Something about the arms wrapped around me, the scent of musk inflaming my nostrils, immobilized me, as if informing my brain that I was safe, for once. That I was secure. Soon, I no longer felt the pelting force that was falling above and onto me, and a bright, yellowish light entered my obscured vision. It died down some, and I was placed on something soft. Not a bed, this is too small...Then, I heard talking. It was Hughes, those wolf-appendages atop my head could determine that much. But the feminine voice, I didn't know. Those words... what were they? So slurred... Before I knew it, my world faded to a nightmarish midnight.

"I hate deserts."My head shot up. Oh yeah, I was with Edward and Alphonse Elric, searching for the Philosopher's Stone! I must've got carried away in my memories again..."It's nothing but sand."I laughed as the older blonde of the two, Ed, fell face-first into the golden sands that surrounded us.

"Well, what'd you expect? An oasis every mile or so?"I laughed.

"Oh, shuddup! If there was at least some grass, I could turn it into bread! I'm starving!"

"Yeah, well we all are. Or, me and you, at least. Al can't eat..."I put my hand to my chin, looking up at the sky thoughtfully and walking forward. Sadly, I tripped on Edward's conveniently placed briefcase, earning a mouth full of sand. Ed, though, didn't notice, as he got on all fours, swinging his head to his right, opposite to my fallen form.

"Hey, All! Were'dja go?"He swung his head in my direction, and I quickly stood so he wouldn't see that my usual high-end reflexes had failed me."Al? HEY!"

"Down here!"A gray hand rose up from the grains below us, grabbing Ed's right leg, which, quite frankly, made him scream like a girl. I couldn't help myself. I laughed. A lot."I sunk again."Edward glared at the hand.

"Reason number two why I hate the desert..."

We had dug Al out with our bare hand, as how Edward couldn't Transmute in sand and I was just that mean and made him suffer. As of right now, he was crouched down, breathing heavily. Abruptly, he brought his head up and glared at Al's tall glory.

"I don't understand how you keep falling in!"He yelled.

"I get full."Alphonse answered truthfully. Ed stood up quickly, all five-and-a-half-feet, and brought his leg up.

"Full of what?"He then brought it forward, harshly kicking Al's metal chest. With a large echo, the armor opened, and at least twenty pounds of sand fell out onto Edward in a huge mound. Al and I laughed quietly, then scooted away before we could get hit with Edward's fury. The mini-sand hill blew around him as he stood, pure wrath etched onto his face. Before we knew it, Al and I were being chased by Edward, the phrase 'Eat my dust' becoming quite literal when we did so."Get back here!"He yelled.

"What're you gonna do?"Alphonse asked, somewhat timid.

"Nothing!"

"Then why are you chasing us?"My voice came out carefree, in a mocking manner.

"Stop and you'll find out!"I laughed again.

"You'd miss us too much!"I twisted my foot in the sand, turning myself around and running backwards, also sticking my tongue out. You readers probably think that I am begging for a grave. The writer is thinking this as she is writing it, also. But since she based me on herself, she knows that I will not back down and that I strive to annoy Edward Elric, even through the afterlife. And yes readers, if you want to become the authoress' friend on DeviantART, prepare to be annoyed with her randomness. Just a word of advice.

"Why would I? You're just a chick that looks like a guy!"Another word of advice, ever head of 'Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn'? Yeah, that doubles for me and the authoress. My black-clothed head showed a large red anger mark, and Edward's face of wrath quickly morphed into one of fear. I walked towards him slowly, and he recoiled back. Soon, I was chasing him in the reverse circle.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, SHRIMP?"

"I'M NOT A SHRIMP!"

"SHRIMPY, SHRIMPY! WHERE'S THE COCKTAIL SAUCE?"

"SHUDDUP, WOULD'YA?"

"Uh, guys...?"Al said quietly. We both stopped in our tracks, facing him, both extremely angry. You could practically see the flames behind us as we yelled "WHAT?" together. Alphonse's metal helmet became plain as his eyes grew big in fear."D-d-don't you think we sh-sh-should get to the city...?"

*THOSE WHO CHALLENGE THE SUN*

We were now trudging through the city. It was clearly old, rusted in many places, but the population seemed large and friendly, by the looks of it. There were a bunch of blue statues of a man holding a staff in front of him. On that staff was a miniature stone sun. Edward seemed, quite frankly, pissed off. Hunched over and his faced shadowed and scrunched up like that.

"You okay, brother?"Alphonse asked quietly. Edward grunted.

"It's your fault for not stopping when I said."He grumbled.

"You wouldn't stop either, if someone was chasing you."I remarked.

"Someone was chasing me! YOU!" I shrugged and tugged on the hood of my black cloak boredly.

"And your point is...?"

"Just shut up, would'ya?"

"Nah, I like annoying you too much to let it go. Besides, we all know you love the sound of my voice."I snickered at his half-disgusted, half-blushing face.

"I'm too tired to fight right now..."

"Or you're just too much of a wimp to talk back to a girl."I walked up in front of him, strides backwards once again, mocking him with my outstretched tongue. He growled slightly and turned his head away from me. I snickered again and turned back around, and then a sound hit my sensitive ears. Water...? I walked to my right into a alley, Edward and Alphonse following me.

"Hey, where're you goi-"Al started, but Ed interrupted him by running up to the fountain ahead, yelling "Water water water water water!" like the idiot he is. Heck, he even jumped like a little girl in a candy shop to get to it. If anyone could see my face, they'd be surprised at how exhausted I looked. Not be walking through a desert for 2-3 days or dehydration, but because I had to deal with THAT fifteen-year-old for... what? Three, Four years maybe? When he got there, though, he stopped. Alphonse and I walked up to the fountain and saw that it wasn't water, but red liquid."Is it blood?"Alphonse asked.

"Nope. More like blood-red wine."Edward sighed, looking at the chipped cup he had picked up. I rolled my eyes.

"Hey! Get away from there! You know that's off-limits to kids!"

^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^

"Hahahahaha, you're out-of-towners! That explains it!"The guy who had grabbed Ed by the collar a few minutes ago had took us to his juice bar, getting Ed and I some Orange Juice while we were there. He seemed relatively nice."You'll hav'ta forgive me! I thought you gonna try and sneak a little sip!"

"Fountain stocked with free wine? That's pretty ritzy!"Edward laughed as he enjoyed his OJ.

"This town must be loaded!"I said happily.

"Yeah, we do alright here."I heard the bells of the nearby church echo around us. The man's face contorted with surprise."Oh, I almost forgot!"Ho took hold of a wire that was slightly above Al."Time for a little soul food."He flicked a switch on that wire, and a small radio that was on the platform above us clicked on, sounding birds chirping loudly. The other store owners around also turned radios on, having slow music invade my wired eardrums. Turning around, we saw everyone had their hands clasped in prayer.

"Children of God, who live upon this land,"I rolled my eyes. Joyous, some preacher that we have to hear daily."Pray in faith that ye shall be saved. As sun lights the day, so does the Sun God Lito illuminate thy path and drown out-"

"Well that's freakish."Edward remarked.

"Yeah."I agreed.

"Some kind of religious broadcast..."Alphonse said. We all turned back around in our seats, where the man had his fists on his hips, looking at us.

"Your buddies are in a suit of armor and a cloak and you've got on gloves and you're calling us freaks?"He asked. Edward just sipped his juice.

"Pretty much, yeah." I said, swirling my glass in my hand, making the juice slosh silently.

"What's your deal anyway? You street performers?"Ed spit out his drink in surprise. He looked at the man angrily.

"I don't think so, Pops!"He said, equal anger in his voice."Do I look like a clown to you?"

"Well, you must have some reason to journey out this far."I sighed.

"We're just trying to track something down, that's all."I yawned, bored again."Now who's this dude, on your airways?"

"Why that's Sir Cornello!"

"Eh, doesn't ring a bell."Edward said. The mans face became surprised, closing up to Edward.

"You're kidding me! You've never heard of the Great Prophet, Cornello?"He asked loudly.

'Some Half-Baked Prophet, I bet.'I thought, half angry at this Cornello dude.

"What's great about him?"Edward asked, clearly not caring on their answers. Some guy came up from behind us and spoke.

"He can perform miracles, for one thing. I've never seen anything like it!" Some other guy came up, too.

"This place was a God-Forsaken dust bowl before Cornello came here and transformed it into a desert paradise!"A small crowd came around us, remarking like this Cornello was some all-mighty God.

"Cornello can even correct sins!"

"Yeah, we're on the Sun God's good side, because of him! He gives us blessings!" Edward covered his ears and I twitched.

"I just remembered, we have to be somewhere." He said."Y-you ready to split?"I stood up with him.

"Yeah, we hav'ta go to that... place. Yeah. That place." I said, laughing nervously. Alphonse stood up and bumped his head, or should I say helmet, on the platform above us, knocking the small radio down, thus breaking it. The guy was not very pleased to see his 'precious' radio in bits.

"Oops..."Alphonse replied, kind of guilty, I guess.

"Now you've done it, buddy. What do you expect, wearing a stupid tin suit?"The guy owning the bar said.

"Don't bust a lung, Grandpa!"I said jokingly."We can fix it!"

"It's in a thousand pieces!" I laughed.

"So?"

"I'm sorry..."Al did a little mini-bow and turned to the broken radio. "Let me try."

"Sure."Edward said, quite smug, if I do say so myself.

In a minute, Alphonse had drawn his Transmutation Circle with white chalk around the radio and had prepared to fix it quickly.

"The drawing, what's it for?"The man asked, perplexed.

"You'll see."Edward and I chorused."Just give him a sec."

"It's called a Transmutation Circle."I said.

"Ok, here it goes."Alphonse said, placing his metal and clothed hand in a cross above the circle. Seconds later, blue lightning was striking there, fixing the radio in a large 'poof', all with a smoke bomb, it seems.

"If you are lost, follow me and you will be found."The radio spoke this Cornello's words. I snorted.

'Conceited much?'The crowd around us 'Ahhh'ed.

"It's really a land of Prophets!"The guy spoke, amazed."Your buddy can work miracles like Cornello!"

"It's nothing like that."Edward smiled, looking at him as Al brought the radio up to the man.

"It's science. We're Alchemists."You could practically hear the smile in Al's words.

"We're the Elric Brothers!"Edward boasted. I fake coughed and he looked at me, not getting the picture until I poked his left shoulder."Oh, and our wannabe sis, Bailey Vinez."

"Not to brag or anything, but were pretty well-known!"I smiled some, not that they could see it too well.

"Elrics? Vinez? Not familiar."Some other guy said.

"We don't have any Alchemists in these parts." Another said.

"I fix things for a living though. Lemme know if you need a job!"I laughed and rubbed the back of my head.

"They don't need any work."Some lady said from the other side of the counter."Those are Edward Elric and Bailey Vinez. The Fullmetal and Silver Wolf Alchemists." She looked at us. This chick didn't sit well with me..."They've been celebrities around Dese (sp?) City. They say that they're real Child Prodigies." Edward smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Wow, a real-life famous person!"The crowd surrounded Alphonse.

"I see, you get the name 'Fullmetal' 'cause you wear that armor!"I sighed. Wrong person. And why did I always get left out, huh?

"Hey, would you come to my daughter's birthday party?"Al brought up his arms, waving them quickly.

"Uh, I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist!"He said, pointing at Ed."He is! And Bailey's the Silver Wolf Alchemist!"The crowd looked at us, who were just a bit ticked.

"You mean the guy in the black cloak is the Fullmetal Alchemist? And what does that shrimp have to do with wolves or silver?"Both of us got anime veins. We each got a guy and began swinging them around frantically.

"DO I LOOK LIKE A DUDE TO YOU? NO, NO I DON'T!"I yelled, furious now. Edward didn't seem far behind me, either.

"SHORTY? CAN A SHORTY DO THIS? GONNA CALL ME A HALF-PINT BEEF-POUND MIDGET? I'M STILL GROWIN' YOU BACKWATER DESERT IDIOTS!"

"I see there's plenty of stuff going around here today!"

"Rose!"I stopped suddenly, as did Ed, and looked at the new visitor. She had pink bangs and maroon hair that went to the small of her back. The pink alone disgusted me.

"Don't mind me, I'd hate to spoil all the fun!"She giggled. I felt like throwing up.

"That's okay."Alphonse straitened up from his previous position."My name is Alphonse Elric."He did another bow."Nice to meet you."Edward threw the guy he was holding away, and I did the same.

"Name's Edward Elric."He looped an arm over my shoulder."And this chick is Bailey Vinez!"I grunted and side-stepped, making Ed fall to his side."HEY!"I laughed. It was just too fun, mocking him like this. He quickly stood again. "A-anyways, I'm Al's older brother, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

"Older brother? But shouldn't it be the other way around?"I laughed again as Ed began steaming, Al having to calm him down by moving his hands up and down slowly, in that certain movement that he seems to use a lot.

"Hehe, I'm Bailey Vinez, like Ed said. I'm younger than Ed, sadly one inch shorter, and is known as the Silver Wolf Alchemist."

"Huh. Why 'Silver Wolf'?"She asked. My laugh faltered a bit.

"Oh, uh, that's for me and my buds to know, hehe..."

"Oh... alright!"She smiled. Was this chick serious? Oi... The old guy chuckled to himself.

"Hey Rose, have you finished your shopping for today's offering?"He asked. She smiled again.

"Yeah."

"Well then, maybe you could take them to the temple with you! They say they're lookin' for somethin'. I bet father Cornello can help out. You know, have them ask for God's grace."

"Oh, we don't belie-"Rose cut me off.

"It's alright if you don't have an offering today!"She said."And besides, he has rooms for travelers! You could stay there tonight!"

"Thanks, but uh-"Alphonse was now cut off by his brother. Was this going to be a habit in this place?

"As a matter of fact, we'd love to take you on that offer, wouldn't we Al, Bailey?"

"We would?"We both asked.

"You mean you want to?"Al asked separately.

"Mmmhmm!"Ed mumbled. I sighed.

'Yay, a night in a church under some fake God. Joyous.' As we began to walk away, I heard a conversation back at the bar.

"It sure is nice to see Rose smiling again..."One guy said.

"Yeah. She's returning to her old self again. Her heart must be healing at last."

'Her heart?'I thought.'What happened?'

"Hey guys..."Al and I turned to Edward."Remember that woman at the shop? She knew us. Have we met before?"I shook my head.

"No. I would've remembered her voice." I wondered aloud. "Who was she, anyways..."

"You shouldn't worry!"Rose said, catching our attention once more."I'm sure Cornello will help you find what you're looking for!"She smiled again."And besides, I'm sure that if you show him you're faithful, he'll make you taller~"Okay, this chick was BEGGING for a grave. No, not from Ed, from ME! This was SO ANNOYING!

"What's wrong with you people? I'm not short! You come from a desert full of giants!"I huffed and stayed behind as Ed, Al, and Rose ran ahead. This Cornello dude... he wasn't a Prophet or worker of God. Why? Simple. God wasn't real. How? Science doesn't prove it, because science didn't make 'God', therefore, God isn't real. This Cornello guy is a fake, just like God.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"Serve and true faith and thy prayers will be answered. As a man opens blinds to let the light flood in, so open thy heart so the Sun God shall shine on you."

Ugh, this sickened me. Why did I have to listen to this crap? I unplugged the nearby radio, then stretched out, my shoulders popping. A large crack was heard, and my hands wet to my lower spine quickly. I should've thought that through... I may have good balance and flexibility, but crap, things still hurt! I then looked at Edward. He was staring out at the graveyard that was shown outside our second-story window while sitting in a beige reclining chair. I walked up there also, Alphonse right behind me.

"I spoke to Rose..."He said."That grave belongs to her boyfriend... He was all she had. Her parents died when she was a little girl."I sat on the arm of the chair Ed was sitting in."She's convinced Cornello can bring him back to life."I scowled.

"Then he's leading her on..."I growled slightly, almost unheard.

"Letting her think he can do it..."Ed said, finishing my point.

"Well maybe he can."I looked at Al, surprised."What if Cornnello really is a Holy Man? Those scriptures... What if there's something else out there? Something we can't explain?"I became lost in thought. Was that possible? Things science couldn't explain? Like God? Holy Miracles, were they really miracles that science and fate couldn't explain? Or just things that were made because of our Economy, Weather, Global Warming, etc.?

"Don't count on it..."Ed said, almost scornfully. I looked out the large Bay Window again, watching the sunset as it splattered the colors of roses to violets in the evening sky. Then my sight traveled downward, into the lonely graves' settlement. Standing there was Rose, looking at a certain grave in particular. A large, chubby man was behind her. He was old, by the looks of it. He had a cane and I could see the bags on his cheeks from here. I got this vibe, making my metal feel like they were sparked by electricity, shocking my nerves and alerting my brain, that this guy, was a threat. And a big one at that.

This morning was hectic. Hectic, hectic, hectic! When we got out, we were ushered into this big hoard of people, looking at that same guy I saw yesterday. I still got that vibe, that electric shock, and it still gave me the chills. Everybody was cheering as this guy, this Cornello guy, brought a glass of water in his hands up for all to see, and then, in a flash of red lightning, it was blood-red wine. Then, he put his left hand, the same that glowed before, on a piece of lumber. After that red lightning, it was a stone statue holding a staff with a stone sun. This guy was such a fake! How long did he think he could keep this secret? That he was using Alchemy while completely ignoring the rules?

"Whadda'ya think?"Ed asked Al and I from above. Of course, he was standing on a box. Like he would get a growth spurt over night! That's about as possible as my spine growing back!

"Well it looks pretty obvious."Alphonse said.

"He's using Alchemy! And giving us State Alchemists a worse name than we've already got!"I said harshly. This dude was getting on my last nerves, and I hadn't even met him yet!

"Hey guys!"My hood twitched a small bit, not enough to see, but enough for me to know. Rose walked up to us in her pinky-dinky glory. Seriously, can I get a barf-bag here?"How are you enjoying our first Miracle Gathering? He's amazing, isn't he?"

"Well,"Ed answered truthfully,"he's an amazing actor. I'll give him that. Those aren't miracles. He's swindling you."Woot! Alchemists 1, Cornello 0

"Now Ed, we don't know that."Alphonse said, immediately bouncing up, trying to make things fair."We jut know he's using Alchemy, and he's ignoring the laws."

"What laws?"Rose asked. I sighed and Edward jumped off his mini-podium.

"Alchemy isn't some easy-peasy lemon-squeezy magic, Rose. There are rules you have to follow. Rule Number 1: Equivalent Exchange,"My voice came out extremely serious, a weird thing, for me.

"Equivalent... Exchange?"I nodded.

"To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. Equivalent Exchange. That's what makes the world go round, not 'Witchcraft', as you people call it."

'Isn't Witchcraft against religion, though?' I thought, out of nowhere.(Seriously, they called this Witchcraft in the anime, and my friend, Emily's, dad is a preacher, and she can't watch Harry Potter because of the 'Witchcraft'. So, if Cornnello's a 'Holy Man' why would he go against religion and use Witchcraft...? Just a question I thought up)

"But that Holy Bastard's disregarding it completely."I growled.

"Because he's working miracles!"Rose defended. Up front, on the platform, a girl brought a parrot to Cornello. He put his hands over it and the same lightning flashed. A green parrot flew up and landed on his shoulder. My growls grew louder."What do you say now, Bailey? I bet you can't do that with Alchemy. It's a true miracle."Her eyes teared up, and I snorted."It has to be."

'It has to be what it isn't seen as, Rose. If only you could see what we can.'

~()~()~()~()~()~()~()~

Later that day, Rose went to the church. Ed, Al, and I followed her secretly. Al went around back as Edward and I followed head on. We sat in the second row of seats, watching her clean this podium.

"So, if you pray and polish the alter enough times, someone who's dead will be brought back to life?"Edward's voice echoed in the large, candle-lit room. It truly was an amazing sight, the gothic form of this church. But we weren't here for that. Rose turned around and smiled.

"Something like that."Ed and I sighed. She just didn't get it. Edward reached inside his cherry-red cloak and pulled out a ebony-black leather book, which had an Alchemist's Circle carved on the cover.

"Water, Thirty-Five Liters." He began, opening it to a page he had kittycat-cornered. (YES, that is a real saying! look it up!) I took a look at it.

"Carbon, Twenty Kilograms."Now he took the lead.

"Ammonia, Four Liters."My turn.

"Lime, One point Five Kilograms."I think you get the pattern now.

"Phosphorous, Eight Hundred Grams."

"Salt, Two Hundred-Fifty Kilograms."

"Salt Peter, One Hundred Grams."

"Sulfur, Eighty Grams."

"Fluorine, Seven point Five."

"Iron, Five."

"Silicone, Three Grams."

"And other traces of Fifteen different elements."I finished as Edward snapped the book shut.

"What's that?"Rosa asked, seeming, at the least, slightly interested. This time Ed spoke.

"It's all the ingredients to the average human body, to the last specks of Protein in your eyelashes"He lowered his eyes, soon closing hem completely."And even though science has given us the entire physical breakdown, There's never been a successful attempt at bringing a human back to life."He leaned forward from his former relaxed position, slumping a bit."There's still something missing, something scientist haven't been able to find in centuries of research."He now looked at Rose confident, as did I.

"So what makes you think that hack-job of a Priest can?"I asked. It all went silent for a brief moment.

"And in case you're wondering,"Edward replied after she inhaled sharply,"All those ingredients can be bought on a child's allowance. Human's can be built on the cheap. There's no magic to it."Rose's face began to contort slowly. She was jumpy, but aggravated, by the looks of it. She suddenly burst out.

"Well if there's no magic, then you bring someone back to life!"I smirked slightly. Man, she was an idiot!

"It's just a matter of time before science finds a way."I stood up, Edward doing the same."Science is the answer to everything, whether you know it or not."We began walking towards her, not as a threat, though. Now Edward spoke again.

"If I were you, I'd drop the scriptures and pick up an Alchemy book. We're the closest things to Gods there are."I leaned on the alter, waving my index finger around one of the candle's flames.

"You aren't Gods. You're nothing close to it."Rose said, facing us fully.

"And neither is the sun."I sighed as I took the lead once more.

"The sun is just a big ball of gas. A star. And is one of many. Bring up a bigger one..."I put my thumb and index finger to the wick of the candle, stopping the ember flat."It goes out. Something else is better."I suddenly jumped as a metal 'click' echoed around us. I looked to my right, and there was Al, with one of those preacher guys behind him.

"Don't worry young ones..."He spoke in a deep and masculine voice as Alphonse rose. I could just barely see the pistil in his hand."You will join him soon."He pulled the trigger, and the 'BANG' made my hands grip my hood tightly. Al's helmet shot forward and onto the floor, in front of Edward, while the rest of him fell to the floor.

"Uh! Crey! What are you doing?"Rose asked, panicked.

"These three are enemies of god."This 'Crey' guy brought the pistil up again, aiming at Edward and I."It's his will Rose, not mine."She quickly stepped to the side, and gasped. But then, out of all this, I smirked. He hadn't noticed that Al had stood again.

"I don't think so, mister."His face switched to one of surprise as he turned to look at the massive metal plates that connected together to make the armor. He started backing up, pointing at Alphonse. Ed quickly kicked his helmet up into the air while Crey couldn't stop us, caught it, then threw it straight at his head. Crey fell to the floor, unconscious, as Al ran around, trying to catch his head, yelling "I got it, I got it!" I Punched one fist in the air and grinned.

"STRIKE! IT'S GOOD!"But then, Rose just had to ruin it with that pitiful little scream. I looked at her, and she had her hands to her mouth in disbelief.

"H-He doesn't have a head!"I laughed nervously as Ed smiled.

"Yeah, that's Al!"He responded. Al turned to her, and she looked into the empty void of swirling shadows within.

"Please don't be scared, Rose. This is how I am."Alphonse tried to reassure her, but he was failing.

"Y-you're not there..."Rose said, slowly backing up."I-Is Bailey like that, too?"I laughed a little again, shaking my head, but she didn't see. Al put his helmet back on again, snapping it into place.

"It's true, I don't have a body. Bu I'm here. This is my punishment for setting foot on holy ground, where mortals are forbidden."Edward cast his sight down."We made a mistake, Rose, and we're paying for it. Rose began walking backwards again, her purple eyes widening considerably. I wasn't long before she screamed and began to run away from us.

"Rose, wait!"Ed yelled, ready to give chase. I sighed.

"Sheesh, and she hasn't even got to the scary part yet!"I took his shoulder, making him look at me."We hav'ta go to the main Chapel. That's where they'd be."He nodded, and we headed out of the church. This was going to be a long night.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

We opened the doors to one of the many rooms in the main church. It was pitch-black inside.

"I can't see a church social down here, can you?"Edward asked, a bit harshly. I shrugged, ignoring it.

"Nope."Then the light came on. Candle-light. Rose was there, standing on a stair-led platform.

"There she is!"Edward got ready to lunge forward, but I stopped him by pointing at an old man who was walking down the stairs. Cornello.

"You've wrestle with the darkness and prevailed, Rose."He spoke."And thank you, for bringing them here."More candles spouted to life around us, giving us a slightly better view of the field before us. Cornello stood beside Rose, finally facing us with a cruel smile on his wrinkly face. I growled, those shocks and chills returning."State Alchemists, brutal reinforcements. I knew some of you would come someday."

"Well let's not chop that up to biased premonitions, okay?"Ed yelled up to him, standing confidently, wearing that grin of his."You knew we'd come for the stone!"At this, Cornello's smirk grew and he opened on old eye. He rose up his right hand, which placed on his middle finger, was a gold band with a red rock placed firmly. The Philosopher's Stone.

"Do you mean this, young man?"Now I smirked.

"I knew it..."Edward smirked one of his own, also."Alchemy without a Transmutation Circle. Completely ignoring the principle of Equivalent Exchange! It could only mean one thing!"

"Yes, the mythical gem."Cornello started, his voice still low and over-confident, if you ask me."The legendary amplifier. The Philosopher's Stone."

"That's it, Al, Bailey..."Edward said."It's ours."He put his left hand on his hip and the other out in the 'Give me' manner."Cough it up, Cornello! That stone belongs to me now, and if ya' hand it over peacefully, I won't tell the people here what you've been doing!"

"What's that, restoring your town to peace and prosperity?"Cornello spoke once gain. I swear, he was just nagging me on!"Do know what would happen if my miraculous wonders suddenly stopped? Nobody wants that."I growled lowly. He looked at Rose, who seemed frozen."Do we, Rose?"

"Don't listen to him Rose!"I yelled abruptly, stepping my right leg forward."He's just a low-life conman who-"

"Nonsense."Cornello interrupted. My growls grew louder."Would a conman restore life to a dying town? When I arrived, this town was full of strife and I brought peace. They came to me with parched throats and I made water. I've built buildings for them and even gave them money. They believe that heaven had forsaken them but I gave them hope and became their prophet. Why does the military want to soil all this?"Edward was about to burst.

"I don't care what the military wants, I'm here for me!"He yelled.

"What?"

"I need that stone... We need it to make something right again!"

"Oh!"Rose said, seeming to think up a picture in her mind."So that's it! This is about you, and what you want! What about us?"She leaned farther onto the bar she held."You don't care!"Al slumped over a bit.

"Rose, we're only trying t-"Ed put his hand up before his younger brother.

"It's no use!"He said. A second later, Rose was looking down, crying. I really didn't know why she was so emotional over this, but whatever.

"Enough!"Cornello brought his hand up again."There's no point in arguing. If you want the Philosopher's Stone, you'll have to take it from me!"His hand glowed with that same red lightning, and the stone floor beneath us transformed into yellow sands. Before we could really understand what had happened, a huge dune wave formed under our feet and knocked us around. Edward jumped up just in time, but my foot sunk, disabling me for that split second, letting the wave carry me. One second I was getting my leg free and the other, I felt a searing pain on the back of my head. I slipped down one of the many pillars slowly, the pain throbbing, blurring my view.

"Al! Bailey!"Ed called out. I blinked a couple of times to clear my vision and tried to stand, but only succeeded halfway, falling flat on my face. I looked up quickly though, my head still swirling."Hold on!"It started swirling more and more, darkness crawling closer, but I stood up and tall, determined not to let a headache bring me down.

"Armor is a disadvantage in soft sand!"Cornello said smugly. I looked around. Alphonse couldn't be seen."You can't draw Transmutation Circles in it, either."I growled and placed my hand on the pillar, steadying myself. What caught my eye, though, was how a quarter down it, crimson made a sketched line. I felt the back of my hood, and sure enough, it was caked in some liquid. As I pulled my hand back, I looked at it. Blood. Cornello placed his hand on a block in the wall, grinning maliciously."Let me show you one of my creations..."A metal clanking echoed around us, and I froze. I could hear it, it's breathing, it's steps. I was bloody, and something was coming up beside me. Surely, it could scent blood from a mile away. The inhales and exhales of the creature became louder, faster. The steps became more powerful, accelerating."You, of all people, should be able to appreciate this!"I sucked in a deep breath, and everything went in slow-mo in my head."A Chimera!"

"Bailey!"I turned to the sound of pawsteps, and saw the animal, no, the Chimera, running towards me. I couldn't move. My mind was racing, as if searching through a filing cabinet to figure out how to escape. Then, all I saw was a flash of red, and there stood my savior, his right arm being chomped on by a half lion-half snake beast. I blinked and breathed out. Ed had saved me, just in time. The Chimera gnawed on his right arm, and I winced, holding mine. I wonder what that would feel like... I shook my head and pushed the though away. Edward stood still, then smirked."What's the matter, you lil' basterd?Can't get a good taste?"Cornello grunted and threw out his parrot, holding up his fist and aiming the lightning at it. The harmless bird transformed into a huge feathered creature

"Go, my pet!"It started flying towards me, like a jet, clamping it's talons onto my back. I screamed. It hurt, but not like rip and tear. My spine had popped just the way it shouldn't by that pull, the one that was coming from the base of my lower back. Cornello laughed. "You should die any minute now, with those deep wounds of yours."I snorted as Ed threw the Chimera away like trash, blood pouring from it's jaws."What the..."I snickered and twisted in the scythe-like talons until I was in the right spot, and sucker-punched the overgrown parrot's jaw. It screeched loudly and dropped me, and sadly, I was Thirty feet above the ground. Cornello grinned, that is, until he saw me front-flip and land upright. But what was queer to him, was that my feet where crossed in thin air, almost like I was floating. Little did he know that my ebony cloak covered my silver support beam. I grinned and laughed as Ed walked up beside me. Rose gasped. The parrot flew up to us quickly, but Edward just smirked and punched it with his right arm, sending it to the opposite side, and furthermore, unconscious. I rose both my fists in glory.

"HOME RUN!"I laughed. I then held my hand down and Ed slapped it, laughing with me.

"B-But how?"Cornello asked. I smirked."That's impossible! Those claws on your spine! The teeth on your arm! No one could survive that!"

"Unless..."I smiled harshly, my voice mocking. Cornello's eyes widened. He finally figured it out.

"Your limbs! They're fake!"I growled and smirked.

"DINGDINGDING! We have a winner!"Edward began ripping his cloak off, exposing his metal arm. Rose seemed absolutely terrified.

"Oh God..."She muttered.

"Don't look away, Rose. You need to see what happens when you try to bring a human to life!"Edward yelled."When you cross in God's territory or whatever the hell it is! Is this what you want?"Her ripped all of the crimson cloth off, his AutoMail arm and some of his leg from the torn pants he wore shining brightly in the candlelight."LOOK! AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THE WORST OF IT YET!"

"H-His arm..."Rose mumbled."His leg, they're machines!"

"And what about you?"Cornello pointed at me. I growled and descended the small Three feet down, placing my feet on the ground."Your torso, it's those machines, too, isn't it?"I laughed.

"Oh, I wish!"He recoiled."I wish it was only that much!"My growls grew louder."I wish I wasn't born deaf and with half a spine! I wish my parents had took me to a professional than some conman like you! Rose, now is the time for you to see what hardships are REALLY LIKE!"I tore off my cloak swiftly, and took in the light. My dark-chocolate hair fell down to my shoulder blades and my gray-blue eyes adjusted to this light, as under the hood it was darker. My sharp-pointed silver ears pricked up, twitching and moving in every direction, taking the sounds of it all. And lastly, behind me, a long, Three-and-a-half long silver tail twitched behind me. My attachments were an awkward sight, indeed. My tail's underside showed light and dark gray fur in layers, the top covered in many plates of pure, genuine silver. In the middle of those plates was a circle that had what looked somewhat like a jagged drawing of a wolf's muzzle howling to a half-circle, the moon. Rose's eyes doubled, no, quadrupled, than when she saw Ed.

"H-Holy Mother of Lito!"She screeched.

"I see... now I understand you two, Elric, Vinez."Cornello said. I stabbed the needle-like tip of my tail in the sand and supported myself once again as I sat in mid-air. (THAT'S what I get for watching Soul Eater's Medusa for too long, stealing her pose! lol) "You crossed the line and did what was strictly forbidden! You tried to create human life and you and your brother's bodies were taken from you! And the other had desperate parents who thought nothing more than 'Make her better', when in reality, they just made you worse!"

"We told you Rose..."Edward said solemnly."About the Sun God, a word of advice;

"Get too close, and you'll burn."He and I chorused.

"Apparently so, but you were crazy enough to find out for yourselves!"Cornello yelled crazily."You two are the Fulmetal and Silver Wolf! The Fullmetal and Silver Wolf Alchemists!"

TO BE CONTINUED

And so ends Episode 1: Those Who Challenge the Sun

Stay tuned for Episode 2:Body of the Sanctioned


	3. Episode 2: Body of the Sanctioned

**RECAP**

"I see... now I understand you two, Elric, Vinez."Cornello said. I stabbed the needle-like tip of my tail in the sand and supported myself once again as I sat in mid-air. (THAT'S what I get for watching Soul Eater's Medusa for too long, stealing her pose! lol) "You crossed the line and did what was strictly forbidden! You tried to create human life and you and your brother's bodies were taken from you! And the other had desperate parents who thought nothing more than 'Make her better', when in reality, they just made you worse!"

"We told you Rose..."Edward said solemnly."About the Sun God, a word of advice;

"Get too close, and you'll burn."He and I chorused.

"Apparently so, but you were crazy enough to find out for yourselves!"Cornello yelled crazily."You two are the Fulmetal and Silver Wolf! The Fullmetal and Silver Wolf Alchemists!"

**Episode 2:**

**Body of the Sanctioned**

We stood there in that candlelit, sand filled room, watching Cornello's wrinkly face morph into a cruel smirk as he did the same to us.

"Well, that does answer a riddle."He stated while looking at our AutoMail."Why the military would give pups like you such stern names. Fullmetal. Silver Wolf. They're both literal."He paused and then continued."Zeros. Alchemist forbid their own from transforming led into gold. But there's one practice more taboo. A technique forbidden by man and nature itself."I growled lowly. This guy was already on my bad side from the start, but if he does this... I swear, I won't hold back from punching his old baggy face in!"Alchemy... On human souls."Edward and Alphonse looked down while Rose gasped. All the while, I was crouching down, tail in the air, hands in front of could say it was a mix of when a Olympic runner crouches and a dog's 'Butt in the air' position. My metal tail was swishing in a large circle roughly, cutting through the air. If I could just get a good aim... AHA!"You miserable little boys, dabbling in Human Alchemy without knowing it's penalty. You stepped on the toes of God!"I moved my right hand up to my tail slowly, hoping not to give myself away.

"You don't know the story!"Alphonse retorted softly, only to be stopped by his brother.

"Al, Bailey."I sighed and returned my hand to the sand in front of me before standing straight again.

"But..."Alphonse started,"We just wanted..."

"THEY JUST WANTED THEIR MOM BACK, YOU BASTARD!"I yelled. This so called 'Holy' man was really just picking my nerves, one by one, with clippers and prying them out of my brain! At this, Cornello laughed.

"But they failed!"I retaliated back, readying my hand near m tail again.

"Yeah, I'd label that a failure, alright."Edward said softly. I looked at him, in pity, for a moment, just a split second."Al lost his whole body and I lost an arm and a leg. I ruined every signpost because I was reckless and wanted it bad enough."He started to bring his right hand up and looked at he pink-haired wonder."Rose, this is what happens when you bring back hat's dead."He made a fist, and I readied my hand again. One thing was for sure here... hell was gonna break loose."You really wanna go through with that?"Rose seemed to be thinking of her options, staring into space, still in mid-gasp. But then, as she put her head down, Cornello put his hand on her shoulder, making her jump and look at his old, haggish face.

"Don't let them worry you, Rose. You forget that the Great Sun God Lito has blessed me with the Philosopher's Stone."He brought his left hand up proudly."Besides, I have far more experience than these heretic children did."At this, Edward stuck his foot forward.

"Don't be stupid!"He said, somewhat harshly."Nome matter what kind of powers you have, some things can't be done!"

"Oh? Then why are you so anxious to get the stone?"Cornello smirked again and brought the ring up to show."You want to beat the laws of Equivalency just as I do and bring your Mommy back!"Now I growled again, my right hand hovering over the carved circle on my silver appendages.

"Wrong, 'Holy' man!"Edward yelled, making Cornello's face contort to surprise."All we want is to get our bodies normal again."He smirked and grabbed his right arm with his left."See, we don't lie about what's possible. We didn't start a cult."Cornello grunted a few times and I could see him sweating from here. Maybe, if I just place my tail right here, by my side, I can get a good aim... Al brought up his right hand- um, glove. My bad.

"We will ask one more time."He said calmly."Please give us the stone."At this, Cornello did that one-side smile.

"You are damned State Alchemist. May the wrath of God fall upon your head."

"Stop hiding behind that crap!"Edward brought his metal fist up."Get down here and I'll show you some wrath!"Suddenly, my earspearked at a familiar buzzing sound.

"The stone..."I whispered, hen looked at Ed."Get down!"

"Wha-"Red lighting spouted from behind Cornello in a flurry full of cracks. Rose backed away from the man, seemingly terrified. As he brought his hands out from behind his back, he grinned insanely, pulling a huge machine gun.

"Sinners!"He yelled as he aimed the gun at us. Then, suddenly, all I could hear was the echoes of bullets and guns. I crouched down, hand on the circle on my tail. Before I knew it, I was against a cool wall and bullets ricocheting on metal sounded in my ears. In a moment, the bullets stopped and the dust cleared to show a silver wall spouted from my tail and a block of metal two feet beside it. As I looked at the block, I saw Ed and Al behind it, Ed's hand on it, breathing heavily.

"Close call."He said, relieved."Thanks for the warning. Heh..."I rolled my eyes and smiled a small smile.

"Well, i wouldn't want to clean up your guts afterwards, so-"Before I could finish, another voice sounded in my ears.

"Father Cornello!"I looked behind me and saw, none other than, Crey and his cronies."You..."He took out a pistil and began shooting at Al, who brought his arms up in defence. I sighed and put my tail behind me, the silver wall receding into one of it's many plates, then began running past all the bullets, swiftly dodging them by twisting just the right way. I was planning on getting in front of Al and making a wall similar to the other one, but Edward waved us over.

"Al, Bailey, this way!"We began to follow the oldest of our group to one of the side walls surrounded by pillars, opposite to the one where I hit my head (It still throbs, by the way).

"Idiots!"Cornello yelled."You're running into a dead end!"I laughed.

"When you're an Alchemist, nowhere's a dead end!"Edward clapped his hands and put them an the wall, a bright blue glow emitting from them. A moment later, an iron door was before us. We shoved it open and began running through the hall, I was in front, Edward directly behind me.

"Damn it, how're you so fast?"He asked suddenly. I just laughed and kept running. A moment later, I could hear the footsteps of the cronies behind us.

"Come on, we hav'ta get out of here!"I whispered harshly. i looked around the many suits and armors and drapes that decorated this hall, before an idea popped into my head. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at the drapes, smiling broadly.

"What the... move Bailey!"Edward tried to push me to go on, but i just knocked him away with my hand.

"Al, do me a favor and stand right... there."I pointed to a conveniently placed empty spot between two drapes.

"Uhhh... ok...?"Alphonse did as I said, and my smile grew.

"Now, stand perfectly still."as he did so, the footsteps became louder and louder.

"This is no time for decorations! Let's go!"Edward said, trying to run. I rolled my eyes and took his arm, walking up to one of the drapes, then bringing it over him.

"Now shut up!"I then walked over to the opposite drape and stood behind it, standing as still as I could. Footsteps echoed everywhere, getting louder and louder, until they passed. I sighed, relieved, and walked out from behind the red tapestry, Ed doing the same."You can move now Al."Suddenly, our metal armor's head turned plain, red-rimmed eyes wide.

"Th-they walked right past me... it was so scary!"Suddenly, I was crumpled into a bear hug by Alphonse, being swung around like a toy."What if they had found me? Oh, I wouldn't be able to see Brother or you again! Well, maybe I would see you, we'd be tied up together... but still! I was so scared that they would take me away and find you guys and-"Before he could finish, I somehow got out of his death grip and took a deep breath of sweet, sweet oxygen."Oh! Uhh... sorry Bailey..."

"It's... alright Al... just gimme... a sec..."I replied between breaths. With one large inhale, I stood straight again and sighed."Okay, now that that's over with..."

I folded my arms behind my head and looked at the full Moon above the three of us. We had successfully got out of the horrid church and were now sitting beside a statue in town. Alphonse, who was still standing, seemed to be pondering about something.

"Why did they treat us like we were evil?"He asked. I looked up at him thoughtfully."If we really wanted the stone at all cost, we would've taken it by now."I ten looked at Edward, who's hand was on his chin and a pouting face that a five-year-old would do whenever they don't get a special toy on Christmas. Then, some speaker spouted on, ringing, making me reach for my hood. But then, I noticed something. I left my cloak in the church!

'Damn it...'I cursed myself inside my head before listening to the announcement.

"People of Lior,"Crey."This evening, a band of unbelievers tried to take the life of the Great Prophet, Cornello. One short and blonde,"At this, I couldn't help but snicker slightly. Edward shushed me though, and i listened again."One wearing armor, and the other is..."as we stood up, Crey could be heard whispering in the speaker."Wait, ears and tail of a wolf...? How could... And the other, a female, with the appendage of a wolf's on her head and as a tail. Father Cornello asks you all to stay in your home, he's worried for the safety of Lior."I could hear them, running up to us, getting closer. I scratch that comment I made in the church. Now hell was gonna break loose."Please, take all necessary precautions."

"Well, crap."I remarked. Before we could even move from our place, we were surrounded by, guess what? A mob. I was at least hoping SOME of the people would stay home, but apparently taking down a fraud is an insult to the whole town. Edward and I held the same annoyed and unimpressed expressions while 'Al' stood completely still. Luckily, Ed had thought quickly and made the statue we were sitting at into an exact replica of his brother. Now, where the real Al is, i have no clue.

(LOL, just noticed that, actually. If you pay attention, the 'Al' in that scene doesn't move and is on the platform where the statue used to be)

"No questions guys, they're the ones."One of the many people holding pitchforks said."The short newcomer, the tin-can, and... Holy Lito, she is part wolf!" I rolled my eyes as everyone stared at me now. They were interested in 'Alphonse', but now that someone said it, I'm the center of attention.

"M-maybe they're just... d-d-decoration... y-ya know...?"Someone else in the front said. My ears perked in his direction and I looked at the guy, my tail thrashing man recoiled quickly."N-n-n-nevermind!"I was so developed in the guy to notice Edward ranting about his size, really.

"Nobody said that, now back off!"Was all I heard. I looked at the guy who first talked to see Ed up in his face. Huh, I guess he went off again."We got more important business to settle."Edward stepped back and put a metal finger to his head, tapping it once, then looking at me, then 'Al'.

"What kind of depraved souls are you?"Another guy asked."How could you go after the prophet?"

"We welcomed you here. You made us believe you were good."A woman said. Edward and I looked at her, the same, unimpressed emotion etched our faces. Edward sighed and held out his hand.

"Look, lady, we never asked you to believe anything. That's your priest! He's a phony! He's just using Alchemy."

"Liar!"Everyone turned to the voice, looking at the violet-eyed pain in the- Well, you know. The crowd parted to show Rose."Just now, my boyfriend spoke to me. Cornello is bringing him back."I sighed. Joyous.

"you mean ol' Kane we lost in the accident? He was a good kid! Good for you Rose!"

"There' ya' see?"The woman said."And he's not the first, either. There've been many others who've come back."

"She's right! and "Yeah!" and others of the such were shouted, and I sighed for the twenty-eth time.

"HEY!"I shouted. Soon, everyone had shut up and looked at me."Have you guys even looked at these people close up? I heard they all left town not a day after they 'came back'!"I put air quotations over 'came back' to prove my point.

"Look!"One of the random people of the crowd yelled. I growled.

"Oh yeah, just ignore me! Not like I'm saying anything impor-"I stopped mid-sentence as the ground shook beneath me. I looked to the sound of the tumbling ground and saw one of the may statues moving, walking toward us."Oh shiz..." Seven of them surrounded us, acting as a barrier. I sighed, once again, and brought my hands to my temples, massaging them fervently."Great, just great! Now, not only do I hav'ta back-talk a mob, but I also have to kick at least four asses of pure rock! At the end of this, I'm gonna sue you for my new AutoMail leg, ya' hear me Cornello?"Swiftly, one of the staues lunged one of their staffs at me."Eep!"I quickly bent back into a back-bend (bent back back-bend x_x) and the staff went over me and into 'Alphonse'. Of course, Edward and I had to act as if he was real.

"AL!"We both chorused. I quickly brought my legs up and flipped over, just in time to see Edward get bonked on the head (CartoonNetwork moment XD) and another spear aiming for me. I jumped up and landed on the spear, left foot in front of my right, hands at my sides.

"Oh did I mention that I took gymnastics when I was little? No, no I don't think I have."I used the spear as a beam and bent forward, griping it with my hands and springing my feet into the air, then continuing front flips from there until I was at the statue's head."It really comes in handy when half your spine is missing."I then put my hands on each side of the head and jumped forward. I could see it in slow-mo, me jumping over the head, completely vertical, then beginning to fall, and then, finally, the satisfactory 'crack' of when the rock head broke of, into my arms as I landed. I lazily threw the head away and yawned."Okay, one down, six to go... yay."As you can see, I am completely over-enthusiastic. Just as I was getting ready to attack one of the statues that was wacking at 'Alphonse', I felt a pounding in my head.

'Uh-oh... I forgot about the... the...'I couldn't help but fall to the ground as blood poured from the back of my head.'Damn Cornello, knocking me into a... a... a pole...'

'I... I don't really remember much... Where am I? Oh yeah... Lior, with Ed and Al... why was I being carried? I must've been caught when I fainted...' I opened my eyes a small bit and saw, guess what? Candles. They had a really bad obsession, ya' know? I looked at the cronies carrying me and sighed. My head hurts too much to argue with them. They dragged me up beside two more of them, my long tail looked like a snake behind me. I looked to the person the other pair was holding and groaned.

"Oh, well that's just perfect."Edward said."Now Cornello gets you, too."

"Aw, shuddup."I muttered."I have a migraine."

"Probably because you flipped to many times..."

"NO. It's because some BASTARD threw me into a FRIKKIN' PILLAR!"

"Well, my bad for ASKING!"

"Yeah, it is your bad!"This seriously wasn't helping my headache.

"How was it my bad?"

"You just admitted it was!"

"No I didn't!"

"Ahem."We both looked at the old man before us.

"WHAT?"We chorused. Cornello grinned and we both walked up to Edward and took a silver chain in his hand, a round pocketwatch in his palm. With a swift pull, he broke the links that connected the watch on Edward's then looked at me, and frowned.

"Now where do you hid yours...?"He asked, putting the hand with Edward's watch to his chin. I smirked.

"You think I'm gonna tell you?"My smirk was growing, until Ed spoke, directed at me.

"Give it to him Bailey. We'll prove to him we can last without some stupid amplifier."I looked at him, in disbelief, before moving my tail up to my mouth. I took a loose screw into my mouth and pulled, the metal plate sliding downward by gravity, exploiting tangled masses of red and blue wires. In those masses, was a silver chain, connected to a silver pocketwatch. I took the chin in my mouth, then swung it at Cornello. Unluckily for me, he caught it in his opposite hand. He took both of them and looked at them in the dim light of flames.

"So these are the official pocketwatches of the State Alchemist? Never seen one close. It's the reason why you can do transmutations without a circle, isn't it? It amplifies all of your work. I think you'll be quite harmless without it."He then started laughing, as if he had one. But what he couldn't see, was that under Ed and I's locks, were identical smirks. Boy, had he had it wrong.

I woke up in a rock-walled room, my hands tied up by leather binds and Edward sitting beside me. A single candle lit the room above us, shining on the gold-encased coffin beside us. I was perplexed by the casket. Why in heck's name would they put a SOLID GOLD coffin in the room they held prisoners? The door in front of us opened and we looked to see our visitor. Guess who it was? Rose. She was carrying a tray with bread and a bowl on it, our food, I suppose. How they expected us to eat, I have no idea. She walked up to us and Edward smiled.

"Great, ya' came to feed me! And I thought you were mad!"He opened his mouth wide, expecting her to stuff it all into his mouth. Rose's face was shadowed as she placed the tray in front of us, practically letting us drool since we couldn't reach for it. She then hurried and turned, running for the door. But she stopped and gasped as Edward spoke again, this time more serious."I hope he's real, Rose.I just don't want you to get disappointed." She balled her fist and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. Edward sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"That went well."I muttered sarcastically, moving my tail forward and piercing one of the loafs of bread with it, then bringing it to my face so I could eat. I took a bit and chewed, thinking."You know, they should of at least tied my tail down. This is easy..."Edward looked at me enviously (lol PUN! XD sorta, anyways...).

"Would you, uh-"

"No."He sighed again and I smirked. I was on the good side, for sure, but I couldn't help but be a bit evil. My ears perked at a sound, the sound of metal of us looked to our left, and smiled at our armored savior.

I took my tail and pierced the leather binds holding Edward's hands, already done so to myself. If this went according to plan, we would get the Philosopher's Stone and Al could get his body back! Although I wasn't related, I wanted to... help him. I guess you gain a certain bond when you travel with the same two boys for some years... Again, my ear perked at the sound of footsteps. I sat down in my original place and lifted my hands up, as did Ed. A minute later, the door opened to show, the one and only, Cornello. He shut the door and smirked, walking up to us.

"This little charade of yours will be found out soon enough."Edward spoke to the old man.

"the faithful are not likely to distinguish between Alchemy and the works of God."He spoke."Really? As long as I'm bringing them happiness, what do they care where it comes from?"I rolled my eyes as Edward smiled.

"Right..."I remarked.

"So, what's in it for you?"Ed asked."Besides all the kowtowing?"Cornello chuckled, somewhat evilly."What, is it the money you're after?"

"Oh, I can get all the money I want from the offerings."He stated offhandedly."But you think too small. I'm making believers who would gladly throw away their lives in my name. And why not? They believe I can resurrect them. They aren't afraid to die. There is no greater army than those with a holy call!"H opened one pale periwinkle eye and grinned at us. He then turned away from us, seeming to begin walking out of the room."Mark my words. In a few years, I'll have a following large enough to tear this country apart!"He lifted his left fist in glory."And rebuild it! In my name!"I groaned and put my hands down, taking a bowl of water and sipping it. Edward took the remaining loaf of bread and began to munch on it.

"Makes no different to us."I sighed boredly. Cornello turned to us quickly.

"What?"

"After all, there's no real way to bring people back to life, right? Once you cut us down, we're gone for good."At this, he smirked.

"I'm afraid that's right. Even with the Philosopher's Stone, I wouldn't dare try Human Transmutation with Alchemy. I'd end up like Edward here."I rolled my eyes again and drank the water,a satisfied 'Ah' sounding from my lips when I did so."And why would a king risk his life for the sake of his mindless pawns?"As Edward took another bite of his bread, Cornello seemed to realize something."wait a second..."Edward and I grinned as we leaned in opposite directions, indicating a small break in the brick wall which hid a microphone. Cornello gasped, and seemed to yell as if he were in hell's very flames."WHAT? How long has that thing been on?"

"For the whole mindless pawns part, I would think." I snickered.

"How did you get my broadcasting equipment?"

"Al rigged it up!"Edward grinned even more so than before, if it were possible."We know, you smashed him into pieces,but that was just some metal I whipped up to look like him! Pretty clever, huh?"

"No, my children! They lie!"Cornello screamed again."Lies! Don't believe them!"Suddenly, he made another machine gun, and the bullets sounded in my ears. I took Edward's wrist and dodged beside the old man. As the dust cleared, Cornello panted, until he saw us standing there. Quickly, Edward clapped his hands and a blade came out from his AutoMail arm, then sliced the gun in two.

"Oh, by the way,"He started,"I don't get my skills from a pocketwatch."The candlelight reflected off the metal blade, and Cornello gasped and stepped back a few steps before dropping the rest of his severed gun and running out the door. I smiled and laughed at the wimp, until Edward stopped my by retracting his blade."It's not over yet, Bailey. C'mon."I nodded, smirked, and ran out the door with him. As we kept running, we entered the main room, and out the doors I ould see the red lightning and Cornello yelling "Behold God's power!" Next thing I know, the ground is shaking, almost like an earthquake, put in a rhythm. Stop, start, stop, start. Almost like footsteps. Edward and I walked out to see the statues walking around, and I sighed.

"Those guys again? My head still hurts from yesterday..."Cornello gasped, once again, and turned to the two of us.

"I'm warning you,"Edward said, left hand on his hip,"Give it up."Cornello smirked that evil little smirk and 'Hmm'ed.

"you didn't fool me with that little display down there."he pulled out both of our metal pocketwatches."Without this, the only Alchemy you can perform is on your own metal arm."I snickered.

"Wow, old man. You're really stupid, ya'know?"His face contorted to one of surprise.

"You're not the only one who can't stand doubters, Preach."Edward said. He clapped his hands together, blue lightning surrounding them, then smashed his left on the ground. The lightning spread behind us, illuminating the church's insides."Here's the real hammer of God!"Cornello began backing up and I smirked a smirk of my own. The ground trembled three times as more, the church's ceiling being pushed so forcefully that is shattered, Cornello gasped as the huge statue from inside the steeple stood tall and seemed to look down at him, and only walked forward a couple of steps, the crowd gasping at it's humongous glory.

"I don't believe it..."Cornello spoke."Not even the Philosopher's Stone can move something as big as that!"

"Well, of course not!"I grinned as the statue held up a fist."He's the one and only, Fullmetal Alchemist."The fist came hurtling forward, and Cornello screamed bloody murder. The statue beside us was pummeled by the stone hand, dust rising in the quake. As it cleared, Cornello looked at the arm of pure stone. He was so surprised and amazed, that he fell to the ground, gasping for air. Edward advanced on him while I smiled and began to walk down the stairs, preparing to slice through the crowd in search of Alphonse. Though, I looked back as Cornello tried to run, shouting he wouldn't give back the stone. But then, he fell to his knees, holding his left arm. Then my eyes widened as he rose it up. There were bulges of skin, tubes of metal, veins of red and blue, gouging from that arm, the one with the ring."How the... the ring! It's a... a..."Edward ran up to him and took the old man's wrist, looking at the golden band. a moment later, I could just barely see a red spark."A fake."

"After al this, all this trouble you put me through, even the stone's a fake?"Edward let go of Cornello's arm and stood before shouting to the sky,"STOP JERKING ME AROUND!"

Edward sighed as he gave me my watch back, Al, Ed, and I sitting on a railing on the street.

"Just another wild goose chase..."He groaned."He looked at Alphonse."And here I thought we could finally put you in the flesh again."

"No, Brother."Al said."You'll be the first we fix. That AutoMail's so tough on you."

"Not as bad as you, Bailey."They both looked at me, and I jumped.

"Wh-what? N-no! I'm just here to be here! You guys are definitely going to be right first!"I waved my hands crazily."Besides, I've lived Fourteen years with these, I can live a few decades more!"Edward sighed again and we all stood.

"I guess we'll hav'ta start the search again, huh?"I nodded.

"Seems like it, yeah."

"You should never have come here!"we turned to Rose, who was seemingly angered."Father Cornello gave us hope. What right did you have to take that away?"I sighed and put my index finger and thumb on each side of the bridge of my nose, massaging slowly."With him, we believed we could do anything, even bring back the dead. We're a desert village, we had nothing before that!"

"You're saying we should have left everything to go on as it was?" I opened my eyes. Everything clicked, if we let them be, none of this would happen.

"well, why not?"rose asked, close to tears. what do I have to live for now that I know Kane won't come back?"I removed my hand from my nose and looked at her before walking up to her, and slapping her cheek. It was silent for a moment, everyone's eyes wide and on me. My voice came out in a low growl.

"Don't you ever think that. you have a full, healthy life ahead of you and many more possibilities. Now SHUT UP and live your life!"She looked at me, her purple orbs huge. I sighed and turned on my heel, walking the opposite direction. Edward looked at Rose as I walked past.

"you've got a good pair of legs, Rose. You should use them."He then turned and followed me to the exit, while Al stayed to comfort her for a small while.

I looked at the sunset, marveled by it's glowing affect on the god sands of Lior. I couldn't help but be reminded of the time of my childhood, when my mother would sing to me as I looked at the sunset. How her lips moved in that sorrowful melody, and how it seemed so familiar to my thoughts. The song of two brothers, and how they blamed themselves for the other's pain...

_Bratja_

**And so Ends Episode 2:Body of the Sanctioned**

**Stay tuned for Episode 3:Mother **


	4. Episode 3: Auntie

OMG, it'sa Miracle! Has Wolfy actually updated? YES, YES SHE HAS! *shoots confetti gun*

Yeah, sorry about the whole "I'm gonna go away for a month and not tell anyone. Buh-bye!" thind... ehehehehe... But yeah, I've actually had this chapter for a while now, just didn't put it up here... *dodges tomatoes* HEY!

Now, I've noticed that I haven't been the best with the disclaimer _ Yeah, well, this'll go for the WHOLE story, mmk?

Disclaimer: I, Wolfy, do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, the characters, the plot, ANYTHING, other than MY character and HER ORIGINAL story. There.

Now, another problem I'm concerned about. After all this time (around 3 months, I think) I've only gotten TWO REVIEWRS! You know how sad that makes me feel? I spend a whole week on each chapter, and I only get TWO REVIEWERS! And I KNOW you people are reading this, since I've gotten 100-something hits, so HIT THE DANGED BUTTON AND TELL ME TT_TT I dun wanna feel alone...

**STORY START**

Edward sighed in this dusty, old library. We had stopped by to see if there was any books for us to research, but alas, none so far.

"There aren't any books here about the Philosopher's Stone..."The shorter brother said ruefully."Just shoot me in the head, would'ya?"

"Bam!"I replied out of the blue from my crouching position atop the rickety bookcase, my hands mimicking a pistol."Well, crap. Ran outta' bullets..."

Edward gave me a scowl and I snickered. It was just too fun, picking on him like this. Alphonse put a leather hand to his iron chin, somewhat thoughtfully.

"I can't believe Cornello's stone was a fake..."He thought aloud."Now we're out of leads again..."

"Mustang's gonna scream our ears off..."Edward closed the book he was flipping through, looking sickly.

"Joyous,"I muttered, grabbing the side of the bookcase and flipping forward, watching my new alchemised-from-a-random-curtain ebony cloak flow before my feet hit the wood floor and I stood perfectly straight. Edward ave me that 'Show-off' look and I smirked triumphantly.

Suddenly, Al leaned forward."Brother! Look!"He rose again, showing Ed an old book. I couldn't actually see it, though, in my position. I peeked over the shorter brother's shoulder and looked at the aged leather-bound book."_Introduction to Alchemy_."It made me smile. I remember reading that in my Aunt and Uncle's old place..."Takes you back, doesn't it?"

"Uhm, I guess."Edward replied, taking the book as Alphonse gave it to him. He looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, before opening the bounds and flipping to a page with the holy Transmutation Circle on it (or, at least the beginner's version). As I looked at it closer, I could remember it... that first time I used that very circle...

It was a beautiful day out in the garden, the river flowing softly, making just the slightest splashes, and the butterflies floating from one gradient flower to another. The sunbeams seemed to make the crimson petals of the rose bush shine with a light so beautiful that no man or woman would ever proceed it. I, myself, was sitting on an old, rusted iron bench swinging my short, 4-year-old legs in a rhythmic pattern, my brightly-colored skirt flopping and my short chocolate hair bouncing, all as I flipped page through page of my favorite book, _Introduction to Alchemy_. Oh, I had read it at least two times before, but I only seemed to find more and more possibilities each time I did. Now, I hardly knew any of the words, but putting two and two together wasn't that hard.

As much as I adored this science, I had never even thought about using it. Well, that is, until that day. You see, it was my Aunt's birthday. Oh, how I loved her dearly. She was so nice and kind, reminding me of my mother. Although, Momma was a bit more stern than Auntie was. Not that I minded, of course. Momma was always busy, so I made sure to do as told so I wouldn't bother her. Anyways, Auntie's birthday was today, and I knew how much she just loved horses. She even had a small stable near the large garden, where her horse, Rosemary stayed. Rosemary was a very fine a prim horse, and very beautiful. Auntie had won many horse shows with Rosemary, but even before that, she was the Champion with Rosemary's father, Ciel. Now, Ciel had died recently, since he was quite old. That's when an idea popped into my head. Since Auntie loved Ciel so much,why not make her a doll or something that looked like him?

I went to work, gathering all the necessary ingredients to make the little plush I was planning on. Now, it needed some cotton and some twine, maybe a petal or two for color...

After a while, I had gotten the ingredients to my wonderful recipe. Some cotton balls from the nearest bathroom pantry, a bit of thread from Auntie's sewing room, and then a couple of dark gray petals from the garden, just like Ciel's pelt. Running through the halls of the mansion, my arms full of my supplies, I searched for my Aunts red hair. She always stuck out, since her locks were always as red as a rose and tied into a long braid. Finally, I could just see it as she walked into our library.

"Auntie! Auntie!"I yelled happily, my young voice bouncing through the huge room full of books."I've got a present for you!"

My aunt turned to me, smiling broadly, some wrinkles framing her grin."Oh, Bailey, you didn't have to get me anything!"She said in that bright voice of hers. I grinned a smile of my own, putting the many items on the floor. She gave me a perplexed look as I put them in a group on the shiny, wooden floor.I looked up to her, holding up a hand

"Chalk!"She laughed and walked over to a blackboard (where I usually played when Auntie was in the library), picking up a piece of white chalk, then waltzing back and handing it to me.

I got on all fours, drawing furiously. I squirmed around, excited about my first try. i bumped into Auntie's legs as i was about to finish my circle. Looking up to her, my tail twitched slightly.

"Auntie, would you-"

"Of course."My aunt walked over to a squared table nearby, sitting in one of the sturdy stools. I began drawing again, before finishing my project.

I then stood, looking at my masterpiece. I poked my tongue at the top of my lip, just as Momma used to. Turning to Auntie, I grinned one again."It's ready!"

"Well, that doesn't seem like a... common present..."Auntie said, walking up to it. Just as she was about to step on the chalk, I put my hand out.

"No, no, Auntie! You'll mess up my present!"

Auntie smiled and stepped back some, staring at it fully."Now, is this it?"

I shook my head violently, my smile still glued to my face."Nope! Just watch!" I turned to the circle, bending down, one knee on the floor. My ears twitched with excitement as I set my hands on the circle.

The library gleamed with a harsh, blue light as the cotton balls, thread, and petals swirled around before morphing together. I looked behind me at auntie, to see her completely awestruck. Turning back to my work, I saw it already taking shape. The body was sorta oval-ish and the head was quite long. Before I knew it, I had a plush Dappled Gray horse in front of me.

"That's your gift, Auntie!"

Before I could turn around, my aunt picked me up and swung me around in a huge bear hug, squeezing the breath out of me.

"Oh, that's amazing, Bailey!"She chimed, setting me down. I quickly sat down, my eyes swirls. That was a bit too fast...

as I was out of it, auntie picked up the plush, looking it over."Why... it's Ciel..."I looked a her and nodded, somewhat confused.

"Yup. I thought you would like something to remind you of him. I hope you like i-"

"Like it? I love it!"

_And that... was my first use of alchemy..._

*AUNTIE*

Me, my aunt, and my uncle sat at the dining table, Auntie holding her Ciel plush close. She hadn't parted with it since early this afternoon.

"Now, Robert, are you the one who taught Bailey Alchemy?"Auntie asked, looking at him from across the table. He looked at me, surprised.

"Alchemy? Is that how you got that plush? And Bailey's the one who did it?"Auntie nodded, setting her little Ciel beside her plate."Oh my... I let her see that old book of mine, but I never thought she would learn... and at such a young age!"He now smiled at me, pointing his fork towards my small figure."You, my dear lady, are quite bright indeed!"

I blushed a small bit and giggled. It really wasn't anything, in my opinion, but at least they were happy. Swinging my legs and wagging my metal tail some, I ate some more of my tender steak.

"You know, Dahlia, I bet she would like all of my old alchemy books. You know, in that old room behind the Library?"

"Oh, yes! I almost forgot about that old, dusty place. I guess it's a good thing we didn't clean it out, all those years ago, huh?"She and my uncle laughed. I, myself, wasn't listening to them go on and on. All this Alchemy has made me starved! As Auntie wasn't watching, I stuffed my face with meat and mashed potatoes. She was quite the one for being proper, you know.

Later on that evening, Auntie showed me tot he back of the library. I had never been there before, since Auntie had always complained about spiders and cobwebs and such. Not that I cared, really. I actually liked those things, but if Auntie saw me covered in dust, I was sure to get punished. And I didn't want that anymore than Auntie wanted dust tracked through the whole place. As we entered, i smiled wide. It was almost as huge as the main Library,and full of books galore! But, even more exciting, there were many diagrams and notes of my Uncle Robby's old research. This was going to be fun.

"Now, I want you to stay here while I go get my cleaning supplies, alright?"My aunt said, heading out.

"Kay..."I replied, not really listening. As soon as she walked out, I ran around the room, gasping at all the knowledge I would soon learn. A certain book caught my eye, and I walked up to it, ears twitching ever so slightly, and took it's bind in my small hand. I pulled, but it wouldn't budge. I jerked and jerked, but to no avail, it stayed put. I huffed and crossed my arms for a moment, glaring at the book. With a sudden idea, I grinned and brought my tail up. I poked it's tip in-between the book and another, opening a small gap. I gripped the book again, now yanking as hard as I could. Finally, the book was set free, and I fell on my behind. Though, it didn't hurt. I was more interested in the large bookcase falling on top of me.

"GYAH!"I screamed, curling into a ball and trying to shield myself of books with my tail. A moment later, they stopped, though, and i looked up to see most of the bookcase above me. The large replica behind me had kept it from falling completely and squishing my guts onto the floor. I sighed a quick sigh of relief, before the rest of the books fell onto me in a mound."Ow..."

"Bailey!"

I poked my head out of the mountain of books, looking at my aunt. She had her hands on her hips, left foot tapping at a steady beat. I gave her a sideways smile."Uhh... sorry?"

Auntie sighed and laughed a little, taking her duster and tickling my nose with it."You silly little wolf!"She laughed as I sneezed, my ears folding back."What part of 'Stay right here' do you not get?"

"Umm... all of it?"

Again, Auntie laughed. I always seemed to keep her in a good mood.

I then looked at the book in my hand, which I had clenched onto. I read the large letters on the front, and grinned wildly.

_Alchemy: The Science of Silver_

You see, I had been at Auntie and Uncle Robby's for a while now. Momma and Daddy had to go to work, so they had Auntie and Uncle Robby to watch over me for the time. I don't really mind, as long as I'll see them again some said I looked almost exactly like Momma, and Uncle Robby said I reminded him of Daddy, with how mischievous I am and all. Anyways, I started studying Alchemy, ever once-in-a-while sending Momma and Daddy a letter, telling them how far I was and stuff like that. Sometimes I got them back, while others, they were too busy to answer. And whenever I asked Auntie and Uncle Robby why they were taking so long to get back home, Auntie would suddenly get sad and Uncle Robby would go get some Whiskey. I knew it was a sore subject (for some reason, anyway), so I tried to avoid as often as possible. But that was sorta impossible with me.

I ran up to Auntie, taking the apron of her dress into my hands, grinning up at her.

"Auntie! Auntie! Look!"I held up my other hand, which held a small, metal rose. As she looked down,my aunt gasped, taking it in her hands.

"Oh my! Is this for me?"I nodded, my long, metal tail waving happily as my ears twitched."It's amazing!"She looked back down at me and smiled that kind smiled."I love it."I grinned even wider than before.

"Do you think Momma and Daddy will love it, too?"

Auntie's eyes wavered, turning kinda sad. But I didn't notice that. She smiled again, though it seemed strained."Well, of course they will."She set the silver rose on the counter, going back to her tea."Of course they will..."

As I walked out of the kitchen, I smiled to myself, happy of my works. And to think, I'll get even better!

Walking past Uncle Robby (who has sipping some Whiskey again), I skipped back to the library, determined to learn even more of this beautiful metal, Silver.

Tonight was dreadful... It was raining, pouring down droplets of water onto my face, and Auntie had a hold of my hand. She had gave me a black cloak that she had sewn and took me out. She didn't really say why, only that Uncle Robby had some friends over, and they were going to play games. I wanted to stay at there, with Uncle Robby and play games, but Auntie said no and took me out. I dunno why, though. It didn't seem so bad.

Auntie walked me around town some, but it all seemed boring and sad. Everyone was inside, waiting for the storm to hit, while we were out here roaming around, like absolute idiots. Why was she doing this? She had never done it before...

Now, Auntie took me over to a house. I had never seen it before, actually. I had a dark, dark green roof and white bricks covering it. She rang the doorbell, and one of her friends... umm... Ms. Maya was her name, I think, opened the door. Quickly, Ms. Maya ushered us in, before we caught a cold.

"Oh my! What are you doing, Dahlia? You could get sick with Pneumonia!"Ms. Maya said, taking her coat. I had never seen her up-close before. Auntie had always told me to go to my room when we had visitors. I guess it's because I look weird..."Oh... and who's this?"

"Deloris, this is my Step-Niece, Bailey. Bailey, this is Deloris Maya."I did the 'proper' this and curtsied (oh, how I hated to), smiling up at her. Though she couldn't see it under my hood.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Maya."I said in that sweet tone that only a little child could have.

"Why, aren't you just adorable!"Ms. Maya squeeled."I can't believe I've never met you before!"

I giggled slightly as I was led into the Living Room. I wasn't as happy as I seemed, but I'll keep up the act...

It wasn't long before I had gone to sleep. I don't really remember what happened when I woke up, either. Only Uncle Robby coming into the door, and then talking to Auntie. Then Auntie got mad, and next thing I know, they're yelling at one another. Soon, though, they're done, and Auntie picks me up. It must've been midnight, since It was pitch black when she took me out of the house with Uncle Robby. I don't really know what happened next, but when it was morning, I was told that we had to live somewhere else now, and that we had to work to eat and stuff... I was also told never to take my cloak off, for some reason. Was I really that different?

Next thing I know, I've been living like this for a couple of years, at least. We had all stopped counting. I was walking through an alley with Auntie, who was skinny as a toothpick from famine and possibly as frail as one, and Uncle Robby, who used to be so strong, and was now probably worse than Auntie. In just so many years, her strong self had plummeted into the scrap on the side of the road. It was really hard, living on the streets. Though, all that time, studying Alchemy and even all those Gymnastics that I took (and hated) were paying off. Every once-in-a-while, we would come across some regular, every-day criminal and I would scare him off, leading him to the military. Although, I wasn't a big fan of the military, at least they got things done. Sighing, I kept walking through the small walkway between two buildings, passing by a large man who reeked of Alcohol. Suddenly, he pulled me back,smirking at me.

"Hey there, lil' lady. How are you toda- AYE!"I kicked him, right under the belt. God, I hate these people..."That... hurt... you lil'..." Suddenly, he reached up and grabbed my hood, tearing it off. I looked at him, terrified now. My pupils adjusted to the brighter light, though it was still quite dark, and saw the man's face turn from angry to horror.

As he started to back away, he started screaming, attracting even more people. Auntie and Uncle Robby were scared, trembling out of their skin, and ran away. I was devastated. They would just... _leave me_?

I was angry. No, I was furious. I reached behind me, touching an old, carved Transmutation Circle that I embedded into my tail about a year ago, and it suddenly morphed into a drill with a harsh cerulean light. As the others around me were scared out of their lives, I dug underground and ran away from that place, finding myself walking through the tunnels of the sewers. After a while, I Transmuted my cloak back and came back above ground, and you wouldn't believe what I saw. I didn't see building after building after building, no, I saw blue skies and green fields. Is this what the real world looked like?

That's when i made my decision. I would travel through Amestris, and see the world to it's fullest. I walked down that paved road at the age of eight, ad kept traveling until I was fourteen years old. That's when that day came, the same day i met Major Maes Hughes.

This guy... he was tough...

It was raining, no, pelting down, the clouds crying mercilessly. I was going against this guy, Jacob 'The Slinger', and he was just too much.

Well, either that, or it was taking the Military just a bit too long.

I really couldn't handle him. I was bleeding, and I was bleeding a lot. But I couldn't focus on that now. I had to focus on this Jacob guy.

"I've got you now, babe!"He yelled, running up to me and slamming me onto the road. He gripped my neck tight over the black cloth that held my identity. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't muster the breath to do it. My eyes became rimmed by black, and it was closing in. This wasn't good... Bracing myself for the sight, I raised my tail suddenly out from under me, stabbing him dead in the center of his stomach. If that wasn't the goriest thing I had ever seen, then his eyes rolling back and his mouth hacking up blood was.

Suddenly, his grip on my neck ceased, and he fell on top of me, completely limp.

He was...

_Dead..._

I pushed him off quickly, standing up and wiping myself off. I seemed cool and collected, but on the inside, oh boy, I was a mess. I mean, I just killed a man! But... he was a murderer, so he deserved it, right?

_...right?_


	5. Episode 4: A Mother's Love

_Whew, seems like Wolfy's onna' role! I've been sick, so I've stayed home. So Sick + Home + Computer = Chapters !_

_Now... I **STILL** don't have many reviewers. I think I've got three, now (and I thank them, very much), but it WOULD be nice for more feedback. Don't be afraid to tell me something's wrong, mmkay? Go ahead and criticize me! (**Constructive** Criticism is allowed, but no flaming. If you flame, you will be ignored.)_

_So yeah. This chapter is also sorta short =w=;; But next one will be longer, since I have a script to go by._

**READ. LIEK, NAO.**_  
_

It turns out, that after I passed out in the Taxi-car-thing and Maes had took me in someplace, that I was hearing his wife, Gracia. She was a nice and kind woman, a great mother for her soon-to-be daughter (who Maes wouldn't atop talking about after I had woke up).

"So, are you hungry?"I jumped. I dozed off some. It was a tiring night, after all. But, instead of responding, I just nodded."Well, then, we can't have such a young girl with an empty stomach! I'll fix you some breakfast."

She headed into what i believe is the kitchen. I haven't exactly explored any, so I wouldn't know. I guess I could, though. I mean, no harm, no foul, right? Or was it fowl? Well, you get my point.

I stood up and stretched a bit, looking from under my darkened hood. The house seemed nice enough. Small, but nice. I was beginning to walk over to the staircase, but Maes pulled me back by my elbow. He had one of those faces of his. You know the one, where he obsesses over something (in example, his wife).

"So, what do you think about her? Isn't she amazing? She can cook and clean and be absolutely amazing at the same time!"

Again, I just nodded. I don't feel like talking. Not only had I talked too much last night, but it was just too much of an effort. I don't care if it only takes a twinge of my vocal cords, it uses up energy that I would rather not be drained of right now.

"And she can do all the laundry in just five minutes and she can make super delicious Apple Pies, which are made by her secret recipe that has been passed down her family for ages, and she can-" By this point, I just drowned out his voice while silently nodding.

Now, I drifted off, into my own thoughts. What would this life be like, now? I mean, being a State Alchemist? Well, if I became one, that is. And why was this Lieutenant Colonel so interested in some Fourteen-Year-Old like me? I've only heard of State Alchemist in their late thirties... that's when Grandpa Giolio*, my mother's father, had become one. Poor Grandpa, with his old peg leg... He was good at acting as a pirate, though.

"Now, Maes, you're going to bore her to death!"Gracia said as she came into the kitchen, holding a tray of gravy and biscuits in her hands. As she set it on the coffee table in front of us (who were seated nicely on the couch), Maes whined.

"But Sweetheart~! You know it's all true! So why not share?"

At this, Mrs. Hughes giggled to herself."Oh, shush. We have a guest." She smiled at me, before putting on a slight frown."Oh... aren't you hot under there, hun? It's pretty warm in here, even without a cloak."

I shook my head fervently, tugging on my hood, hiding my eyes. Hughes chuckled nervously before patting my back and whispering to me in a calming matter.

"Hey, it's alright. You can show her." I glanced at him quickly from under the darkness, and he gave a quick nod. Looking back at Gracia, she had a puzzled look on her face. If only I could imagine...

I slowly pushed the hood back, small strands of my hair falling forward, in front of my grayish eyes. My pupils both dilated and constricted to fit the lighting, more hair falling to cover my pale face. As I let the ebony hood fall back, I looked fully into Mrs. Hughes face, seeing widened eyes and shocked lips. This was going to be just _great_.

But, surprisingly, she didn't scream or shout a her husband for bringing a monster into her house. Instead, she stuttered, telling me to eat, while dragging Maes into the kitchen by his wrist, planning to have a private conversation. Though, as I took a bit (or, more like a hunk) of biscuit slathered in meat-tasting gravy, I stealthily eavesdropped on them, one ear tilted towards the door. It wasn't that hard, really. But what I did hear surprised me. It wasn't harsh or coldness, or even scolding. But it was crying. Pure-out crying. She kept asking him... how it happened. How I was like this. What happened to me. And _why_. Just plain _why_.

I looked down at the plate, smothered in that liquid-ish gravy. And I couldn't help but add some salty tears to it, give it more taste. Yeah, that's why. And the smile I had was just because I hadn't tasted a woman's food in such a long time. Yeah. Such a long time.

Gracia and Maes came out soon, Mrs. Hughes wiping her eyes and still slightly sobbing (though not very noticeable), and Maes seeming somewhat solemn, eyes softened and sad. Before I could even open my mouth (for the first time that day, nonetheless), Gracia had wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, bawling on my shoulder.

"T-today, w-we're going sh-shopping! I-I'm going to give you a f-f-first class tour on th-the whole town, o-okay?" She exclaimed, trying to keep from stuttering (though failing). I gently patted her back with one hand, the other wiping my eyes in the same manner she came out in. It was weird, going so long without social contact, and then basically being attacked by some woman you just met that day. But, surprisingly, it felt... natural. Just like... like I fit in.

After going around a mall and a store or two (or a hundred, since I hadn't actually been in one), Mrs. and Mr. Hughes (yes, I'm being formal) took me to a secluded area in the park, where I gladly did Cartwheels and flips and twirls and Back-Bends and others of the sort. Honestly, I think she was amazed by them. Maes had his hand on his chin, murmuring to his wife on how useful my gymnastics would be towards the military. Now that I think about it, maybe becoming a "Mutt of the Military"** won't be so bad. I mean, I'll help the people, won't I?

As this thought continued in my head, I began climbing one of the nearby trees quickly (though my foot slipped a couple times. Keep in mid that I don't always think things through and tend to rush right in). I found myself at the top, though, and gazed at the view of the setting sunset over the millions of forest-green pines, maples, and oaks, giving them and almost citrus glow. I swear...

_This, right here, right now, is the most beautiful part of my whole life._

***: Giolio Comanche, AKA The Silver Alchemist, is a small, one/two-episode/chapter character in the manga and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. He served in the Ishvalan*** war, until he was mortally wounded by a shot to the leg, which was amputated and replaced by a peg leg. He was later killed by Scar.**

****: "Mutt of the Military" is referring to what Bailey had called Military Soldiers and State Alchemist at the beginning of the series. It is slightly different than what the Elrics and Rockbells call them ("Dogs of the Military") because Bailey sees herself already as a dog, and doesn't want to become worse (therefore, "Mutt" or "Mixed Breed").**

*****:In the manga and second anime, it is spelled Ishval/Ishvarite, while in the first series, it is called Ishbal/Ishballan.**


	6. Episode 5: The Boy with the Machine Arm

_Alrighty, another chapter out and about!_

_yeah... not really... I feel like it's sorta rushed, ya'know? :/ Ehh, whatever. Enjoy!_

**STORY START**

This morning, I woke up a bit later than I was supposed to. Well, I guess that was an understatement.

"Hurry up! We're going to miss the train!"Meas exclaimed as we hurriedly got out of the Taxi-Truck-Thing again, and onto the station. It was pretty small, considering it was heading towards Central.

But beside that fact, we had to hurry. And hurry fast.

Hughes and I rushed towards the train, going as fast as we could. It wasn't really that hard to maneuver since nobody was in our way (except for a midget and some tin can), so we were able to get beside the dark-Mahogany train just as the Conductor yelled his infamous "All Aboard!"

I hunched over and caught my breath for a moment. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it. Though, suddenly, I heard gears creak and iron squeal. Oh joy...

The whistle blew at a deafening high note, signaling that the train was departing. I began to run again as it pulled out of the station. Hughes was on that little platform on the back, waving at me anxiously, urging me to run faster. I turned my head, though, when I heard that scratchy sound, the one where metal hits something hard. Turns out, Pipsqueak and Tin Can decided that this was their train, too. I huffed to myself and looked forward again, seeing the train's back end begin to recede even farther away. I guess this was my chance...

And then, I jumped. I guess it all went in slo-mo, since Short Stuff and Mr. Trash Can jumped with me. Although, I was a bit further ahead than them, so I landed right beside Hughes, my knees on the ground (since I had planed on landing in a crouch. But the train was moving so fast at the time, I slipped from my pose), while they just barely got a foot each on while holding onto the side rails. We were all breathing heavily, for we had had a bit of anxiety. It's pretty hard to jump on an already-moving train, ya'know?

Maes laughed and patted my back harshly. I dunno if it was for relief, or if it was punishment for trying to catch my breath before. But whatever. He led us into the train cars, where the three of us sat in one booth while Maes went to go and phone a "Friend" of his. I'm pretty sure it was someone from the military, but I didn't bother to ask.

I guess the three of us just sat there, in complete silence. Of course, I couldn't move to another cart, since all the others were taken. So I sighed and looked out the winder, one hand tugging on my hood while the other was supporting my chin. And then, it happened.

My stomach growled.

I could feel myself heating up from the neck upwards, but I tried to ignore the fact that I didn't get any breakfast. Hopefully, they hadn't noticed...

Suddenly, I felt their eyes on me, boring through my Spinal Cord (or what was left of it) and into my brain, sending shock waves of uneasiness to my body. I slowly turned to the two, just to see the blonde trying not to laugh and Mr. Tin Suit holding out some kind of biscuit.

While glaring at the shorty, I took the biscuit into my hands slowly and ate a chunk, savoring it. It was freshly baked and warm, so I gladly devoured it (though, I tried not to scare off the two with my masculine eating habits).

Half-Pint took one, too, and ate a bite before talking."So, umm... who are you?"

I cleared my throat with a grunt, not answering. As Blondie waited in silence, the armored man spoke up.

"Uhh, hi! I'm Alphonse Elric, and this is my older brother, Edward. Nice to meet you."I arched an eyebrow (though they couldn't see) and shook Alphonse's hand. I woulda' thought it would be a bit heavier... and his voice should be that much lower. But whatever. Not my problem.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself, or what?"Edward asked, crossing his arms. I just shook my head again. He sighed and rolled his eyes as a little girl peeked over our seats. Edward himself didn't notice, but apparently, the younger of the two did. Alphonse laughed a little bit and waved at the girl, as I simply ignored her existence. The little girl seemed a bit scared and went back to her own business, making Alphonse groan lightly and hunch over in a depressed manner.

"Brother, am I scary?"He asked his elder brother. For someone that tall, he seemed pretty sensitive.

Edward leaned forward slightly."Please, you're kindness in a can." I couldn't help but laugh at that (to myself, of course).

My hood slightly twitched as I heard the little girl whisper to her mother."Look, Mom, he's strange."She stated.

"Strange?"Alphonse asked in a whimper.

"That's not nice, Merin."I deducted that this was the little pint's mother."You shouldn't say things like that."

Edward showed a forced smile, eyebrows cast downward and lips open.

"But look at him! He must like armor a lot to wear it everywhere, even on a train!"

At this, Edward hunched down some, determination on his face. He stood up and turned, eyes closed, and put an hand on the booth's seat.

"Do you think he gets hot?"

Though, when Edward opened his eyes and saw all the other people staring at him, he sweat-dropped and brought both his hands up."Nothing to see here, folks! Nope, nothing out of the ordinary!"He exclaimed while slowly inching back into his seat. Alphonse seemed even more depressed than before. Edward then gave a nervous laugh as even more looked over at him."Jeez, Al, no-one told me we had a ticket to the Normalcy Express!"

Though, then, the little girl came up again, laughing and waving. Edward looked over his shoulder, grinned, and looked back at his brother. "See, Al? She's not scared, she likes you, right?" He turned back to the girl, who nodded happily. But then, apparently, her eyes found something.

I was somewhat interested by now, so I watched as it went on. Edward followed the little girl's gaze, only to see his sleeve pushed up a bit. Of course, I followed too, and saw nothing but sunlight reflecting off and into my eyes. So, now, I was temporarily blind. All I heard was "Cooler than skin, huh?" and the girl nod again.

What'd he mean by that? As I rubbed my eyes back to normal, I heard the mother say "Alright Merin, you've bothered them enough. " and the two brothers laugh. Oh well. Doesn't matter to me about what happened.

I watched as we passed water. It was a beautiful sight, all the blues and greens mixed in with sunlight. The train's whistle blew a few times, making my sensitive ears ring (but in that good way). The three of us sat in silence on our burgundy seats, all staring out the window, taking in the view. I don't remember views like this, after my Aunt and Uncle ran away. Huh... I wonder where they are...

But then again, why should I care? They left me on the streets, without one thought of my well being. They don't deserve my worry. But, suddenly, the beautiful view vanished as we entered a tunnel. Alphonse and Edward groaned, but I just sat there. I didn't mind the darkness of the world outside. I never had, really. But, just a minute later, our view came back to us, showing a multitude of blues and greens of the sea. Not long after, the door opened to show an (somewhat) older man. He scanned the cart thoroughly. The whole time, my eyes stayed on his. A train worker, maybe?

His gaze drifted to our cart, and onto Alphonse. He seemed to jerk back, holding one of his hands horizontal in front of him. And then he whispered to himself, I suppose thinking nobody could hear.

"Major breach."

Oh joy. Just so incredibly joyous. I sighed to myself, turning slightly towards the window, and banged my forehead on it loudly. I'm sure I got looks, many looks, but I ignored.

I heard the cart door close, and continued my banging. And afterward, I barely heard the door open again and that guy run over to our booth. Sighing, once again, I turned and looked at his form with the other two.

"Right, there is some others with him!"He stated, looking at Edward and I."And one of them are small..."

Just a second later, Edward had jumped up from his laying position, flailing his arms and feet wildly and screaming bloody murder."WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' A RUNT SO TINY HE CAN ONLY BE SEEN BY A MAGNIFYING GLASS, YOU JERK?"

I pulled my hood down lower. I already had a headache from the banging, and now this. The older guy backed up, holding his arms up in a defensive position."Relax, kid! The Colonel said it, I was just repeating-"

The Colonel? I sat up fully now, watching as the scene unfolded. But it wasn't the scene that I thought it was. Instead, some guys had pulled guns on the old dude and the old dude pulled a gun on one of 'em. Yay. My eyes widened, along with Edward's and Alphonse's. He was cornered...

As the old guy lowered his defenses a small bit, the guy behind him hit the back of his head with the hilt of his pistol, knocking him out and on the floor. Most of the people on the cart (including me) stood up. The others gasped, while I just growled to myself.

The one with the lighter brown hair turned his back to us, towards the front of the car, and spoke;"No heroes today. Everybody shut up and get your hands over your heads. Or say hello to a bullet."

Edward, Alphonse, and I exchanged glances. Well, more like Edward and Alphonse did while I just looked at them. Then, the three of us put our hands up.

I could already hear gunshots in the other carts. I guess we just have to hope nobody's been killed yet. Just barely, I could hear a Machine Gun going off. Well, that was a good sign. Like, not.

While all this was happening, the darker-brown haired guy began to search for weapons and such on the passengers. But then, the lighter-brown haired guy (Let's call them Bob and Larry, 'kay?) spotted us. Larry saw what Bob was looking at, which just happened to be the three of us. Or, more specifically, Alphonse. Bob took the lead, Larry right behind him, and walked up to us, guns in hand.

"Brother?" Alphonse asked, fear in his childish, almost hollow voice.

Hollow...

"Don't worry." Edward replied back.

"Helmet, take it off."Bob commanded. Suddenly, Edward gasped and pointed behind Bob and Larry.

"LOOK!"

Well, it worked. A millisecond later, Edward jumped up and kneed Larry in the face.

"Bad idea-"Bob started, raising his pistol. But he was shot down (pun intended) with one hit on the head by Alphonse's fist.

As Bob and Larry laid on the floor, the two brothers smiled at one another triumphantly.

"You dumb kid, what are we supposed to do now?" On of the passengers asked. I looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Don't you think they'll notice if two of their men have gone missing? And what's gonna happen to us then?" The guy had a point.

"They'll want retribution."Another said.

"We would've been safe if we had just cooperated and got to central."The first said.

"That's right."

"What were you thinking?"

Alphonse turned to his older brother."What do we do next?"

"Didn't plan that far..."Edward replied. I sighed. Just like men.

Suddenly, Larry turned and pointed his gun at Marin and her mother. Moving quickly, I jumped over the both and landed on Larry's arm with my feet, one on his wrist, the other on his forearm. Doing this, his arm fell downward while making his aim shoot up, missing the two.

Edward quickly took Larry's gun away from him, looking at the two girls."Are you guys okay?"

The mother opened her eyes from her previous shock, and looked at us."Yeah."She replied meekly.

Edward sighed in relief and looked at me."Thanks for that. But, you know, it wasn't really needed. Alphonse coulda' got him."

Now that just made me mad. Just plain mad. Just like a man...

But, aside that, we all looked towards the front, at the door. We had to move.

I got off of Larry (but not after a swift kick to the head) and walked towards the front, ignoring the two brothers behind me.

"It's alright. Your Big Brothers will take care of this somehow, okay?"

Just ignore me, not like I'm special in any way, not like I just didn't save some people. Ugh, whatever.

"We better get started, Al."Edward said to his brother, I suppose facing me, who was still walking.

"Right."

"Wait! Over here." I turned to my left, then down, watching as that old man came out from under a booth.

Once he was out in the isle, I helped set him up and began to untie the ropes bound on him. Edward and Alphonse walked up to us as I tried to get a not out. It was pretty tight, more than I would've liked.

"How embarrassing... Who are you guys? Freelancers?" He asked, just as I got the tie out and loosened the rope some.

"Just two old-fashioned Alchemist. And some girl."

I cleared my throat. The three of them looked at me, who had just stood up and faced them."I think you mean three old-fashioned Alchemist." My voice was scratchy, as I hadn't spoke in such a long time. Well, you know, tow days. Maybe three. But you get my point."Names Bailey Vinez."

"Huh. You don't say..." The guy stood and dusted himself off."Well, I'm Falman, State Warrant Officer."

Oh... see, now it made sense.

"A soldier, huh?"Edward asked."You don't look like one..."

At this, Falman laughed."Yes, well, there's a reason for that. We've got a special passenger on board. You know, the front car kind."

"So that's why these thugs are here, huh?"I murmured. Falman simply nodded.

Edward grimaced."And they decided to bring us down with 'em."

Again with the ignoring... I swear, I feel just like a stray...

Edward looked at his brother from over his shoulder. "Al, I'm going up top, to throw a surprise party. You go with him from below."

Alphonse straightened up."Uh... yeah. Okay."

Edward then turned to me."You stay with Alphonse, alright... uhh..."

"Bailey."I replied. I cleared my throat again."And there is no way you'll be keepin' me down here. I'm goin' up top, with you."

"What? But you'll get hurt!"

I anime-veined."I"m not some preppy biddy*, you idiot. I am actually trained in Silver Alchemy, like my Grandfather, and can easily wipe your tiny ass off of Amestris** and into Xing*** as we know it."

And so, the chaos commences.

Edward and I climbed the ladder up to the top of the carts. Edward had a bump on his head and I'm sure I had plenty of bruises, but that's aside the point.

The sight was beautiful, you know. Miles of bright cerulean sea, and in the distance, rocky, snow-covered mountains. And the train was going fast. Maybe a little too fast.

Suddenly, my hood blew backwards, making my hair flow everywhere. I gasped and quickly stuffed my hair, and soon my full head, into the cotton-ish hood. Edward looked behind him, wondering what was wrong. I took one hand from my cloaked face and waved it dramatically.

"Nothing! Nothing! Just keep going!"I yelled over the harsh wind. He rolled his eyes and turned back, making me sigh in relief. Maybe this wasn't a good idea...

We began to walk slowly over the carts as the train started scaling a cliff. It was hard walking like this, wind going against you, on hand holding my hood. Yeah. Not fun. Especially when I saw that tree branch ahead.

"DUCK!"

I followed Edward's order, but apparently, he didn't. He got hit, full force, by the tree. He fell back, just missing me by an inch. I watched him as he flew by almost, and also how he was heading towards the edge. Acting quickly, I grabbed his right wrist, but it sort failed, as I got dragged with him. All I saw was black, gray, brown, red, and then some purple as we fell off the edge.

Wait... purple?

Suddenly, I wasn't falling anymore. Instead, there was some hard behind me, supporting me. Looking up, I found the one and only...

Maes Hughes.

"You know, there's a real art to train walking."He stated smugly."I'm shocked you got this far."I smiled.

"Thanks, I guess..."Edward replied. Oh... Maes had caught him, too...

Damn...

"I'm Major Hughes. But Bailey here already knows that." I nodded slightly."Anyways, you're Edward Elric, right?"

"Yeah. That's right."Edward replied. How'd Maes know that?

"Mustang told me about you."Hughes said."I'm an old friend of his."

Mustang? As in the Lieutenant Colonel Mustang? Was this half-pint a to-be State Alchemist, too...?

"Lieutenant Colonel?" Well, yup. I guess so. Joy.

"Yep."Maes replied, looking up at the ladder in front of him, in which he was holding onto."Always bragging bout that promotion, too... C'mon, you two. We had better work as a team."

Maes helped us to the front-most carts, where the idiots where. Now, all we had to do was think up a plan...

Or just wing it, like Edward, who had leaned over the side, peeking through a window. But I suppose it worked, since he came back up and motioned for us to to go through the other side.

At first, he wanted Maes to go first. But Hughes declined swiftly, motioning to me. Edward seemed confused. God, I didn't have time for this. I quickly swooped my feet through on the opposite side, kicking on guy down as he said "Hey, what's the matter?" and pinned him, right before bashing the top of my head to the back of his. Well, he was done...

"What the-"The other crony was taken out as Edward jumped in from the opposite window, kicking him to the ground, similar to the way I had just done. Though, Maes jumped in behind me and threw some kind of dagger into the guy's shoulder, leaving one of the worker men to punch his face in.

"Well... that went well..." I remarked. Maes nodded and headed towards the front with me as Edward began to climb the nearest ladder. A minute later, I heard a gunshot. Hughes stuck his head out of a nearby window, looking back at Edward.

"Hey, you okay?"He asked, right before a bullet almost hit his head. I quickly pulled him back by his shirt, falling to the ground by his quick movement.

But then, I heard that sound. The sound of electricity. No, a Transmutation. Guess he was an Alchemist. I hurriedly got up and looked out the opposite window, only to see a canon ball hit the retard that was shooting at us.

"Oh, man! That was smooth!"Maes said from behind me. Then, some other guy looked out, squishing me to the back, and, quite frankly, suffocating me.

"Hey, you!" He yelled."Don't mess with that tinder! It's the life of this train!"

"Right, sorry!"Edward replied back, over the wind. And then, I could just barely see that face.

Well, it's official.

I'm screwed.

Maes and I hurried to the cart behind us, hoping to find the leader of all this crap and finish him off.

But, you know, why was the floor so wet?

Anyways, Hughes and I stood beside a sliding door silently. He slowly began to open it, preparing on of his daggers.

"Just look on the bright side, Bald."He said to the bulk man, who was also wet. Why do I have the feeling Smudget is the one who did this (keep in mind, I wasn't able to see what happened)?"You probably needed a shower."

I laughed at that, though I tried not to. It was pretty obvious they guy hadn't bathed in a while.

Suddenly, this "Bald" turned towards us, and his eyes landed on me. Hughes grunted and threw his dagger, but Bald just blocked it with his... arm? And then shot bullets?

Maes quickly shut the door, trying to keep safe from the bullets. Or was he trying to save me from the bullets? Well, either way, Maes was wounded. And I was mad.

"What's the matter?"Bald asked."Don't like my company?"I lowered my head, looking at my cloaked feet."Before I finish off the general, I'll take care of you."

I quickly stepped in front of Hughes, making his pained face turn to shock. I then suddenly flung the door open, my arm working on it's own.

"THROUGH MY DEAD BODY, YOU OVERGROWN HEIFER!"I screamed, punching him in the face, and, quite possibly, making him swallowing a tooth or two. He stumbled back some, before spitting out blood and glaring at me, all with a smirk on his face.

"Well, then. Guess I'll just have to make you dead, huh?"He threw his left arm at me, and I bet back into the quickest thing I could think of. A Back-bend. I then latched my feet onto his hand, which I could now see was actually a Machine Gun, crossing them as if it was a monkey bar.

"This man, right there, is the only man who has showed me compassion in the last four years! Do you think I'll just let you take his life? 'Cause if you do, I swear, you're freakin' delusional!"Again, Bald just smirked, and then even laughed.

"I don't think some puny kid like you can do anything to a big guy like me!"He quickly flung his arm around, throwing me off and making me hit the wall, similar to the way he did, but harder.

"You wanna bet?"

Suddenly, Edward jumped in, about to smash his face in. But then, they both got caught, arm to arm. And...

_Automail to Automail..._

And that's when everything blurred, and soon, turned into a complete tunnel or midnight black. Great, I'm dead.

I felt myself moving again. In the same way I was moving before, and with that same smell, too. But it was mixed with some kin of led. Some kind of blood...

I quickly jerked up, eyes wide, as I saw I was in Central Station, being carried by Maes.

"Well, I see somebody's awake!"He exclaimed, smiling brightly. But I ignored that.

"H-ehy! Y-you're arm! Is it alright?"I asked hurriedly as he stood me up. I was a bit unbalanced, but I managed to stand. I looked at his right shoulder, to see it covered by his uniform.

"Nah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Oh, hey, Roy's here."He said, pointing behind me. I turned around, to see three Military officers, one of them with black hair and in the front. I figured this was the Lt. Colonel. He seemed to be talking to Bald, who was tied up, with a smug look on his face.

And then, what happened next completely surprised me. Bald had cut the ropes holding him and attacked Mustang. Though, Hughes didn't seem very worried when I looked at him. And the Lt. Colonel didn't either. He just lifted his gloved hand, and snapped his fingers.

Red bolts surrounded Bald, and then crimson fireworks seemed to spark and explode, almost like a bomb. I was amazed. It was so beautiful, yet so destructive... at the same time! Talk about your daily Pyromaniac...

My cloak swished furiously in the waves of air that followed from the massive explosion. Well, not massive, but yeah. Big.

"That flame! It's awesome!"Edward said. Oh, he's here. With his brother. Huh. Just shows you how badly I fail at noticing things right in front of me.

Bald was burnt to a crisp, and that's downsizing it.

"I controlled myself."Mustang said."The damage to your skin isn't nearly as bad as it feels. You can call me Roy Mustang. Or just Lieutenant Colonel. Hell, you can call me The Flame Alchemist. Whatever you do, you'll remember the pain."

Well, he seems nice.

"So he's Mustang..."Edward stated, before suddenly running up to him. Oh, joy.

"Brother?"Alphonse asked, reaching for him.

"Hey!"Edward yelled, standing in front of "The Flame Alchemist" himself."You knew. That's why you made us take this train. You put us at risk on purpose!"

"C'mon, Ed, you think I've got the whole world on strings?"Mustang asked, very smug, if I do say so myself."Anyway, you should focus on the good news here. The General heard about your exploits saving the train and agreed to make a special exception, letting to take the State Alchemist Exams. You're going to be the talk of the military, along with Bailey there."

"Exception?"I asked, walking up."But you always said I could take it! Oh, and he suddenly gets to take it, too!"I pointed a finger at the smunchkin beside me. I mean, sure, I was an inch shorter, but at least I was the right height for my age!

"It was the only reason we came!"Edward exclaimed."And why her? She'll die in battle! Hell, she got knocked out in the first five minutes!"

"Stop being so sexist, you retard! Or do I have to teach you another lesson? And, might I remind you, I only got bruises from our last fight, while you actually got a lump on your head!"

"Be realistic, you two. The state's never let a kid take a Military Exam before. But..."He hunched down some, to our eye level."I guess luck's on your side. Good thing you took that earlier train, don'tcha think?"

I lowered my hand and huffed to myself. I hate smart-asses.

Mustang walked up to Ed (it's easier to say that than 'Edward' all the time, ya'know), putting a hand on his shoulder."Whether or not you take the test is still up to you guys. I'm not trying to run your life."

I grunted and turned to is walking figure."What, you think we're going to go back now, when we've already done this shit, just to figure out we just now got accepted? Wow, you must be a real dim Lieutenant Colonel to think that!"

Mustang turned back to me and smirked.

"You may not want to talk to your future boss that way, then."

"Like I care."

Now, he just laughed.

"That's exactly the willpower and ignorance we need..."

I began to walk away from the station swiftly, trying to just... get away, I guess...

_Ignorant my ass..._

_**OI! OI!**_

_**HEY LOOK, LOOK! A BUTTON! A SHINY BUTTON!**_

_**OH, WHAT'S THIS? REVIEW? SURE!**_


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